Strazhani Klhm I Could Not Find The Doorway

Edward Ka-Spel - Dream Logik Part One, Beta-lactum Ring Records mt203, 2007. outside cover

inside cover

Laughing Gas Edward Ka-Spel: synthesizers old & new, electric organ, percussion, found sounds, voice All artwork on Dream Logik Part One & Part Two by Jesse Peper

Enjoy, NØ

A Thing of Beauty for Ear & Eye

Nezhadaylet Twistyzharr Sing While You May Edward Ka-Spel - Dream Logik Part Two, Beta-lactum Ring Records mt213, 2008.

Outside 5-fold

Inside 5-fold

cd sleeve Under the Junction Edward Ka-Spel: vocals, analogue & digital synthesizers, piano, organ, autoharp, broken things, technological wonders. Ghosts: the bits in between

Enjoy, NØ

Ib, this one's for you

from Passport to Eternity, 1963:

"Track 12"

"Maxted stirred sluggishly. The lake of mercury in his stomach was as cold & bottomless as an oceanic trench, & his arms & legs had become enormous, like the bloated appendages of a drowned giant. He could just see Sheringham bobbing about in front of him, & hear the slow beating of the sea in the distance. Nearer now, it pounded with a dull insistent rhythm, the great waves ballooning & bursting like bubbles in a lava sea.

'I'll tell you, Maxted, it took me a year to get that recording,' Sheringham was saying. He straddled Maxted, gesturing with the siphon. 'A year. do you know how ugly a year can be?' For a moment he paused, then tore himself from the memory. 'Last Saturday, just after midnight, you & Susan were lying back in this same chair. you know, Maxted, there are audio-probes everywhere here. Slim as pencils, with a six-inch focus. i had four in that headrest alone.' He added, as a footnote: 'The wind is your own breathing, fairly heavy at the time, if I remember; your interlocked pulses produced the thunder effect.'

Maxted drifted in a wash of sound.

Some while later Sheringham's face filled his eyes, beard wagging, mouth working wildly.

'Maxted! You've only two more guesses, so for God's sake concentrate,' he shouted irritably, his voice almost lost among the thunder rolling from the sea. 'Come on, man, what is it? Maxted!' he bellowed. He leapt for the nearest loudspeaker & drove up the volume. the sound bounced out of the patio, reverberating into the night.

Maxted had almost gone now, his fading identity a small featureless island nearly eroded by the waves beating across it.

Sheringham knelt down & shouted into his ear.

'Maxted, can you hear the sea? Do you know where you're drowning?'

A succession of gigantic flaccid waves, each more lumbering & enveloping than the last, rode down upon them.

'In a kiss!' Sheringham screamed. 'A kiss.'

The island slipped & slid away into the molten shelf of the sea."

J.G.Ballard

J.G.Ballard R.I.P.

Author J.G. Ballard died Sunday, April 19, 2009 6:53:31 PM, aged 78.

from The Crystal World,1966:

"He awoke into brilliant sunshine in a street of temples, where rainbows spangled the gilded air with the blaze of colours. Shielding his eyes, he lay back & looked up at the roof-tops, their gold tiles inlaid with row upon row of coloured gems, like pavilions in the temple quarter of Bangkok.

A hand pulled at his shoulder. Trying to sit up, Sanders found that the semi-circle of clear pavement was vanished, & his body lay sprawled in a bed of sprouting needles. The growth had been most rapid in the entrance to the depository, & his right arm was encased in a mass of crystalline spurs, three or four inches long, that reached almost to his shoulders. Inside this frozen gauntlet, almost too heavy to lift, his fingers were outlined in a maze of rainbows.

Sanders dragged himself to his knees, tearing away some of the crystals. He found the bearded man in the white suit crouching behind him, his shot-gun in his hands.

'Ventress!' With a cry, Sanders raised his jewelled arm. In the sunlight the faint nodes of the gem-stones he had stuffed into his cuff shone in the tissues of his arm like inlaid stars. 'Ventress, for God's sake!'

His shout distracted Ventress from his scrutiny of the light-filled street. His small face with its bright eyes was transfigured by the strange colours that mottled his skin & drew out the pale blues & violets of his beard. His suit radiated a thousand bands of colour.

He knelt down beside Sanders, trying to replace the strip of crystals torn from his arm."

One of my all-time favorite authors. I will grieve his passing.

The Return of the Legendary Pink Dots

 UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 08/24/2013. Enjoy, NØ.

The obscure concepts that form the basis for individual Pink Dots releases can be overwhelming at times on first listen. They often take repeated playings to fathom the great depths that is LPD. The Whispering Wall is an excellent entry point for anyone attempting to take on this behemoth of a band. The opening track on Dots' albums is usually a good indicator as to the thematic framework & musickal vein of that particular offering. The Whispering Wall begins with the strident, guitar driven "Soft Toy", a wonderful portent of things to come, the first of many surprises. Another highlight of the album, "For Sale," is one of the most polished Dots tunes ever, a great means of introduction for the uninitiated. If I haven't convinced you to check out this band, well, try starting here.

Legendary Pink Dots - The Whispering Wall, Roir RUS8286, 2004.
decryption code in comments

 Traclkist -

Soft Toy
A Distant Summer
Dominic
In Sickness & In Health
For Sale
King of a Small World
The Region Beyond
06
Peek-a-Boo
The Divide
Sunken Pleasures - Rising Pleasure - No Walls, No Strings

Enjoy,
NØ

Goin' Digital

Zer0_II over at Digital Meltd0wn has gone insane. He's permitted me to guest post on his blog. Watch out.

...but seriously, I'm honored to be given the nod to post some musick on his great site. If you want to get some stuff from yours truly that doesn't exactly fit in over here for one reason or another (Pink Dots) then go check out the Meltd0wn. Check out all the other great musick there if you haven't already.

& leave a comment (unlike your usual habit here at NSS).

Enjoy,
NØ

Dark Star

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

I snuck into the house again just now. It's raining cats & dogs. I needed to dry off. No one is around right now so I'm gonna slap this one up quick.


Dark Star is a project from the German musician Wolfgang Reffert. It is post-industrial rock with a psychedelic twist that is slightly reminiscent of The Tear Garden. Travelogue I was originally recorded in 1992 to 1994. In its original format it contain 9 tracks instead of 11 as on Travelogue II. The final two tracks have been replaced by 4 new tracks. Travelogue II retains its early 90s vibe. It begins with "Eject!", a collision of dirty electronics & noisy guitars over a beat-box along with Edward Ka-Spel drones; he's unique & abstract, as usual. Travelogue II navigates genres: the gloomy "Opal" finds its inspiration in krautrock a la Chrome; heavy industrial rears its head on the distorted "Frantic Upstream", while "Don't Look 'til it's Gone" is a colossal industrial & psychedelic blend from Hell with Edward Ka-Spel drawling twisted lyrics in the grotesque darkness; "Come To" is perfect dark-pop. The bonus tracks "Solaris I" & "Solaris II" are minimal collages of tapes & samples with mellotron instrumentation. Travelogue II should strongly appeal to The Tear Garden or Edward Ka-Spel fans. A great piece of fuzzy, dirty experimentation of industrial psychedelia with a cool cover artwork by none other than French artist Métal Hurlant Moebius from the graphic novel The Airtight Garage Of Jerry Cornelius .

Dark Star is Wolfgang Reffert - electronics & guitar with guests: Edward Ka-Spel - vocals, keyboards, & lyrics; The Silverman - sampler; Ryan Moore - bass; Gøtz Adler - guitar, bass, keyboard & drum program; Reece Kyó! - electronics & rhuthm reconstruction; Fredbo - Sampler; G-Frex - guitar & bass; Yorgos DK - vocals & lyrics; Rodrigo Gonzalez - sampler; Kurt Maninouk - tapes; Wolfgang Bauer - editing & drum program; & Volkmar Miedlke - mellotron.

Dark Star - Travelogue II, Soleilmoon sol86, 2000.
decryption code in comments

Tracklist:

Eject!
Opal
Frantic Upstream
The Slice of Life
Don't Look 'til its Gone
Go Beyond, but...
Come To
Masterpiece
Solaris I
Belvedere
Solaris II

Stay dry if you can - stay wet if you can - CanCan if you can,
NØ

UPDATE: I am adding Headtrip as requested.

Dark Star - Headtrip, Failsafe Productions FSCD 01, 1992
decryption code in comments

Tracklist:

Ixtlan
Sparker
The Phoenix Asteroids
Cactus Dance
33/4
Curse
P2C2E
The Shadow Warriors
Desaster Area
Headtrip

Enjoy & thanks for the heads-up Anon & Zanate,
NØ

More News from KILL YOUR GODZ

Have you been to KILL YOUR GODZ. lately? Well, YOUR GODZ might as well be DEAD! Head over there today to hear a special gift from Black Ark Psychedelick Soul & Jazz Revue - Volume One/The Archive Series.


Black Ark Psychedelick Soul & Jazz Revue is a post dada/fluxus art movement committed to reinterpreting the codes & messages left from as far back as the late 50s - early 60s beat/pop/surreal/psychedelic scenes & all those left in it’s wake.

Then head back again tomorrow 10 April 2009 to hear Stpocold to get their release What Happened Outside.


Originating out of the Russian Federation, Stpocold is the experimental project of Swill Klitch and Ips Klitch. They are hoping to have their second full length cd out in 2009.

A Heathen Harvest review of their first cd What Happened Outside described them as;

"…experimental: noise with a human touch, an attempt to combine music & anti-music, sometimes followed by adding rhythmic structures (& turning in – rhythmically - minimal but multilayered, violent, abrasive rhythmic industrial music), consisting not only from the “drum sound” of different kinds like pulsating synthetic beats, scratches & noises, but also looped samples, all this flavored with female voice (which on the second track sounded as if it was going to sing as women in Indian movies do) & male declamations."

While you're there, don't be a leech. Leave a comment.

Enjoy,
NØ

Creepy Crawl Part 1

This post has been re-uploaded 11/04/2017.

I snuck back in to the house when no one was home. They had been using my stereo & playing records. There were albums galore. With Radio KLPD still ruling the airwaves, they had apparently indulged in an orgy of vinyl. I requisitioned a bottle of maple syrup for the lemonade I'm living on, from the lemons I pick off the tree in the field where I'm staying. I slunk back to my tent. I'm a Taurus & I'm stubborn as hell, so I'm not giving in this easy. This is what I found on the turntable. (Ferry's no Ka-Spel, but "A Song for Europe"...)

Roxy Music - Greatest Hits, ATCO Records SD 38-103, 1972.

Jeté de ma propre maison,
NØ

The New Revolution

Just a note to let all the visitors here know that great things are going on over at Because God Told Me To Do It.

TheeBradMiller has started
THE NEW REVOLUTION!

He has begun a new blog called Kill Your Godz where bands can become members & post their own music for all to enjoy directly from the artists themselves.

Here's what TBM sez,

"KILL YOUR GODZ will be a new home for artists who need to be heard. Preferably unsigned artists. Contact me & let me act as the CLEARING HOUSE OF THE GODZ! (theebradmiler@yahoo.com)

It is time for a revolution. Are you on board. Sure, the Industrial Godfathers are entertaining... but wouldn't you want to be a GOD? Don't you think YOU should be a GOD?

April 1st through the 4th will show all the talent that it is out there. On the four Because God Told Me To Do It FREE DOWNLOAD releases you will hear the beginning of a REVOLUTION.

April first through 4th will see the releases begin to flow. I don't know the exact number of tracks, but it's around 50 something....

If you are interested in doing this again, then here is your opportunity. But there is a catch... & of course this catch could crash & burn the whole idea, but I am willing to give it a go. This time it won't be a free for all. This time it will be SLEEPCHAMBER cover tunes. It has to be a cover of a SLEEPCHAMBER song... any SLEEPCHAMBER song. For now I will make the deadline June 1st, with the release to follow a week after.

Have fun."

Well the first part, called Formulation, is available for FREE DOWNLOAD today & it is a great thing to hear (cover pictured above). Many of the artists are unsigned & perhaps unknown to most. They all deserve a listen. Also included is the awesome Phallus Dei, whose drummer / multi-instrumentalist RICHARD VAN KRUYSDIJK works with Niels van Hoorn (see previous post) in STRANGE ATTRACTOR so there is even a Pink Dots connection to satisfy my own mania.

As TBM sez, 'Have fun' & as Nathan Nothin' sez,

Enjoy,
NØ

A Couple More Pink Dots

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

Two disparate works by two members of LPD. Given the difference of these two works, it is possible to see some of the sources of the unfathomable depth that is Pink Dots musick.

Niels Van Hoorn aka: Niels Van Hoornblower, joined the Dots in 1988. He plays saxophones, flute, bass flute, clarinets, gadgets that need to be blown. He likes to wear loud, eccentric suits & uses light beam with his sax for a walk in the crowd.

Someone from LPD once remarked that when Niels made a solo recording, it would be the most abstract or 'avant-garde' thing to come out of the band. That's quite a challenge. So he created De Klaverland Klompen Voetbal Club (which I will post at a future date). DKKVC was recorded on location in Klaverland 2000. It is dedicated to the Independent State of Klaverland & its national sport, Klompen Voetball, in which the players wear 'klompen' or wooden shoes, using two small balls, one for the players & one for their dogs. There are no goals & no rules. DKKVC is to say the least extreme.

More accessible & showing more of his love of jazz, blues, & soul is 2002s Colours.

Niels van Hoorn - Colours, Solielmoon sol 128, 2002.
decryption code in comments

Tracklist -

Landscape
Indian Dakota
Space Horns
Desert Walk
Traffic Jam
Grand Canyon
Heritage part 1 & 2
Mist
Mellow
Strange Dream
Klaverland Sunset Jam (for a small taste of Klaverland)

All song by Niels van Hoorn except "Indian Dakota" & "Mellow" by NvH & Ryan Moore.

Niels plays: soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, & dubbel saxophones; bass clarinet; flute; Steiner wind synth; Arp2600 & Cat synths; & Boomerang loops.
Ryan Moore plays: drums; congas; Kurzwell K-200; & Moogerfoogers. He does: production; tape editing; & engineering.
Mastered by Raymond Steeg.

Ryan Moore played drums on studio & live performances for the Legendary Pink Dots throughout most of the 1990s. He departed to work on his own musical project, the Twilight Circus Dub Sound System, a reggae/dub band. He wrote & produced albums for Grammy Award winning singer Michael Rose of Black Uhuru. He has worked with other notable reggae figures such as Sly Dunbar, half of one of the most influential partnerships in reggae music, Sly & Robbie.

Martijn De Kleer joined the Dots in 1991. He plays guitars, fuzz bass, banjo, violon, exotic percussion, gadgets, string driven things-plucked, bowed, & processed. Pure, psychedelic, & rustic. He still loves Hank Williams. He recorded Flow at home with two microphones & a tape deck. If Van Hoorn was the abstract side, then this is the mellow side of the Dots coin. Mighty lucre it is.

Martijn de Kleer - Flow: Songs & Pieces, Solielmoon sol 110, 2001.
decryption code in comments

Tracklist -

Beginning
Once a Road
Moon in Water
Birds
High Street
Sin
Invitation
Sunflower
Not Blind?
Daydream
Reflection
End

Martijn: vocals; acoustic guitar; fiddle; banjo; & hand drum. Mastered & additional sounds from Raymond Steeg.


Raymond Steeg joined the Dots in 1992. He does the mixing & is the engineering master. Works the sound, vibrations, gadgets, & more gadgets. Demands a perfect sound because anything less pisses him off.

Enjoy,
NØ

More More Dots Dots

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

Individual LPD releases are so indicative of the bands mind-set or line-up of that particular time/space, encapsulating that unique moment so well, that their live offerings seem to better span the bands true genius, giving a better overview of their true excellence. Plus they seem to respond best to the vibe of the live audience.

Legendary Pink Dots began their live career in a local folk club in Ilford, where they resided at the time in a squat. They only played a few live appearances at folk clubs & a Anti-Nuclear Power CND festival. Their first 'real' gig was in Cologne in 1983, where they headlined a show in front of more than 400 people. Their next 'official' show was at the Melkweg (Milky Way) Club in Amsterdam in 1984.

In a setting reeking of marijuana smoke, Ka-Spel roamed the stage, draped in a torn flag, smashing an ironing board against the concrete pillars & stomping a synthesizer beneath his feet. Pandemonium reigned & the crowd love it. LPD was such a hit that for the next ten years they played the Milky Way every year.

Farewell, Milky Way was recorded in 1994. There is a nice blend of songs here from "A Crack in Melancholy Time" to "Space Captain". Edward & the band gel perfectly, bringing forth an array of sinister tunes that represent the essence of the group to date. Although the version of "9 Shades to the Circle" strays from the Nine Lives to Wonder original, it includes some great improvised lyrics & very haunting percussion effects. "Demolition 13" chills with its bitter edged bite of captivating words & changing melodies. The original version of "Needles" appears here as well, eerily coming & going, fading into a quiet, awesome & completely awe-inspiring extended version of "Space Captain".

The line-up: Edward Ka-Spel - keyboards & voice; The Silverman - keyboards; Martijn de Kleer - guitar & drums; Ryan Moore - bass & drums; Niels Van Hoornblower - horns; Raymond Steeg - sound wizardry.

This is one of my favorite live LPD sets.

Legendary Pink Dots - Farewell, Milky Way,
Caciocavallo cad5, 2000.
decryption code in comments

Tracklist -

A Crack in Melancholy Time
On Another Shore
Vigil-Anti
Love in a Plain Brown Envelope
9 Shades to the Circle
Demolition 13
Bella D
Needles
Space Captain (extended version)

Enjoy,
NØ

More Pink Dots

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

"I think something must be wrong with me. I keep seeing Pink Dots."
"Have you seen a Doctor?"
"No, just Dots."

Because I was reminiscing about seeing LPD live, I posted their Live at... first, but I should really go back to the early days now. Most of their earlier material (Curses, Brighter Now, Basilisk,etc. which originally appeared in cassette format) have been re-released on cds. The earliest vinyl I have of LPD is Stone Circles (A Legendary Pink Dots Anthology) from 1987 put out on Play It Again Sam Records here in the U.S. It contains cuts from the above mentioned cassette releases as well as from other mid-80s fare (Lovers, The Tower, Asylum) plus a previously unreleased song "Gladiators Version Apocalypse" recorded in July 1987. This is a great starting point for the uninitiated as well as a treat for Dots fans.

Legendary Pink Dots - Stone Circles (A Legendary Pink Dots Anthology),
Play It Again Sam Records BIUS 1001, 1987.
decryption code in comments

Side One -
Love Puppets
Curious Guy
Black Zone
Hanging Gardens

Side Two -
Golden Dawn
Fifteen Flies in the Marmalade
Our Lady in Darkness
Gladiators Version Apocalypse

note - the last two minutes of "Hanging Gardens" is recorded backward, so I have included as a bonus track that section reversed or backward unmasked.

Enjoy,
NØ

I've Been Trapped in My Own Musick Mania

After the first of the year, I would visit other blogs around the interweb & read their suggested lists of the Best of 2008. & I'd be scratching my head, wondering what the fuck? Granted, I don't listen to all that much neu musick since the plethora of great musick from the past fills my time, ears, shelves & hard-drive. That being said, tho, I do listen to neu musick when I get suggestions from those whose opinions I give more than a grain o' salts worth of import. I try to be open to the possibility that not all neu musick & bands are shit. I hear others playing musick & if it catches my ear, I try to check it out enough to find out if it has any staying power or originality. But the Best Of... lists had bands like Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes, etc. ad infinitum (my friend Jon called them ' Tivo on the Radio, MiGGT, the Feet Floxes, & Vampire Wackness '). I've seen these bands myself & they are across the board CRAP! I was thinking about what bands I would put on a Best of 2008 list, thinking of more inspired picks from more trusted sources, but Microcastle seemed to have gone limp, the Walkmen needed new batteries, Receivers' Parts & Labor was 50/50, & Duke Spirit's Neptune was all right, but hardly god-like. They wouldn't even make the Top Ten cut. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds' Dig Lazarus Dig was excellent, The Mars Volta's Bedlam in Goliath was obviously in the running, even Alejandro Escovedo's Real Animal beat out those other losers, but Best??? I thought about what neu releases I listened to most, affected me the greatest, pleased me the best. I got down to two that were also by two of my favorite hard-working, long-striving musickians & bands.

Black Teeth - Nurse With Wound Huffin' Rag Blues 2008

Steven Stapleton has been entertaining me with Nurse With Wound since 1978, & thirty years later he's still in the top two. Huffin' Rag Blues was a strange listen at first, but all NWW releases are a strange listen. The more I listened to Huffin', though, the deeper into it I sank, until finally I realized it is right up there with the best NWW stuff. At this sorry state of neu musick, I'll huff that rag anyday. The musick that moved me the most was also from a band that started just two years after Nurse With Wound, whose frontman is also a genius madman. Edward - Ka-Spel & The Legendary Pink Dots have always been entertaining, thought-provoking, & unparalleled in excellence. I have more of their releases than any other single band (they are nothin' if not prolific...with LPD material, Edward's solo work, projects such as Silverman [keyboardist original member Phil Knight aka the Silver Man's solo releases], the Tear Garden with cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy). Hotel Blanc - Edward Ka-Spel Down in the City of Heartbreak & Needles 1995 Serpent Time - Silverman Dream Cell 1995 Sheila Liked the Rodeo - The Tear Garden Sheila Liked the Rodeo 1993 15th Shade - cEvin Key w/Edward Ka-Spel & Genesis P'Orridge The Ghost of Each Room 2001 2008s Plutonium Blonde is the album I listen to most often, with the most enjoyment, yet I didn't see them on any Best Of... lists. I wonder to myself just what's wrong with musick aficionados today?

Rainbows Too? - Legendary Pink Dots Plutonium Blonde 2008

LPD played two shows at the Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco on November 14 & 15,2008 in support of Plutonium Blonde. I went to the Saturday show (11/15 - their last US date of the tour). It was a phenomenal show, the CDN being a great place to see shows. Before the show the band was hanging out front with everyone, very kool. The set was excellent, the band as whimsical as their musick, & there were two encores. Syd Barrett, T-Rex, David Bowie, Throbbing Gristle, the Residents, Kurt Weill among others are name-checked when referencing Ka-Spel & LPD, but any of these comparisons are just for descriptive clarification. There is no imitation with LPD, they are one-of-a-kind originals. Plutonium Blonde sounds fresh & fertile, each song manifesting & evolving into an archetypical musickal experience. This is where my musick mania kicked in full force. I gathered up all my LPD & related material & that's all I've been listening to since the beginning of February. We jokingly refer to it as KLPD radio (ALL PINK DOTS---ALL THE TIME!!!) around the Casa Nada. I have a ten cd changer in my Pathfinder & it's constantly filled with an ever changing selection of Dots. My family & friends are beyond the point of utter despair, but I can't stop. I haven't been able to take this blogging thing serious because all I'm listening to is LPD. All I want to post is LPD. So now my disease is spreading to you. & I don't really care. I'm waiting for a friend who was at the Cafe Du Nord show to send me a boot of the show, but until then, heres a show from almost ten years to the day earlier...

The Legendary Pink Dots - Live at the Metro, Chicago, SPV (Poland) 150122, Nov.11,1998.

Spike Aarzhklahh Olgevezh Gang Green 98 Zoo Saucers over Chicago Fates Faithful Punchline Pain Bubbles Grain Kings 98 Andromeda line-up: Edward Ka-Spel - voice, keyboards; The silver Man - keyboards; Edwin Van Trippenhof - guitar, occasional bass; Ryan Moore - drums, occasional bass; Niels van Hoornblower - horns, flutes; Frank Verschuuren - live sound; Bert van Nijmeijer - lights; special guest Paul Newman - drums on Aarzhklahh. Enjoy, NØ

Oi! of Japan Vol. 2

 UPDATE: If you are looking for this post, I posted it on a section called Japan 2.0 08/22/2013. Get it there. Enjoy, NØ

Angelic Upstarts, Cockney Rejects, Cock Sparrer...always dug their sounds...street punk, working class. Oi Polloi...the common folk. Kinda got out of it when it got associated with the right-wing racist crowd.

The general ideology of the original movement was a rough sort of quasi-socialist working class populism. Lyrical topics included unemployment, workers' rights, harassment by police & other authorities, & oppression by the government.The genre became recognized in the latter part of the 1970s, emerging after the perceived commercialization of punk rock, but still before the soon-to-dominate hardcore punk sound.

In 1980, writing in Sounds, rock journalist Garry Bushell labeled the movement Oi!, taking the name from the garbled "Oi!" that Stinky Turner of Cockney Rejects used to introduce the band's songs.The word Oi is an old Cockney expression, simply meaning hey or hello.

Although Oi! has come to be considered mainly a skinhead-oriented genre, the first Oi! bands were composed mostly of punk rockers & people who fit neither the skinhead nor punk label.Because some fans of Oi! were involved in white nationalist organisations such as the National Front & the British Movement, some histories of rock music dismiss Oi! as racist. Because of its racist connection, the Oi! movement lost momentum in the United Kingdom, but Oi! scenes formed in continental Europe, North America, Asia & other locations.

In Japan, the street punk, skinhead, or Oi! movement is a vital part of the Japanese musick scene. Although Baws is probably the first Japanese Oi! band, Cobra is usually sited for this honor. Cobra is regarded as one of the world’s best Oi! bands, giving influences for South American & European bands as the original wave of Oi! died out. The lack of schism between skinheads & punks, between left-wing & right-wing is one of the reasons why the Japanese skinhead culture is regarded as one of the most organized & prospering in the world. The contemporary Japanese bands stress unity in their works, as well as a disregard for mass cultural acceptance; the desire to remain marginal. According to Cobra (talking about the Japanese scene & the record label that they run): “Some people in the punk movement today have missed the whole idea. Any true punk or skin will tell you that punk has nothing to do with just having fun, or trying to keep up with this year’s fashions. Imitation & aiming for mass acceptance may be OK for fake punk rockers, but they will never be part of real punk. This label supports only true punks & skins.”

This compilation is a bootleg of an AA Records release. All recordings were made between 1986 & 1990 & feature some of the early Japanese Oi! bands.

Various Artists - Oi of Japan, Volume 2, AA Records bootleg JAP 02, 1991??

(note: the tracks are not listed on the album label, only on the back cover. both sides list nine tracks but there are only eight tracks on each side. i have done my best to decide what's up. i have noted the inconsistencies. bootlegging/translation problem? someone shed some light here. first one with the correct info wins a prize of my/their choice.)





















Side A:
Mamat's - To Sex to Money 1, 2, Clash
Baseball Furies - Carry on True
Baseball Furies - Don't Go Out of Vogue
Cockney Cocks - Blue
Cockney Cocks - Wasted Time
(the Cockney Cocks tracks appear to be only one track. the lyrics seem to say Blue Time?)
Gruesome - Wind Jammer
Gruesome - Dog & Stag
Real - ??? (something in Japanese)
Index - Dream in Actuality





















Side B:
Bugs Bunny - Holy Terror
Wanderers - Don't Look Tomorrow
Wanderers - Here We Go Again
Doccoi - Right & Duty
Doccoi - Cross My Heart
(seems to be the same place on both sides, tracks 4 & 5. appears to be only one track. this time Japanese lyrics give me no clue. near the end is an instumental break then a repeated chorus that might be 'Cross My Heart'. can anyone translate the lyrics & let me know?)
Baws - We Are the Baws
Shuffle - Angel Baby
Cockney Cocks - Empty Heart
Cockney Cocks - Don't Say Any More

Enjoy,
NØ

Drunk with Funk

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 09/07/2013. Enjoy, NØ.



The Brainiacs were a rarity, a No Wave band from L.A. (maybe they were punk/funk, I'm not very good with the whole labeling/genre thing). They were an integral part of the L.A. punk scene of the late 70s/early 80s.

Young Marquis, The Punks, The Brainiacs, Dell & the Sensations,
Levi & the Rockats - New Masque, February 3, 1979

The Brainiacs, The Spoilers - Club 88, April 26, 1979

The Brainiacs - Club 88, May 22, 1979

The Brainiacs, The Plugz - Club 88, July 6, 1979

The Eyes, Brainiacs, Suburban Lawns - Hong Kong Cafe, July 24, 1979

Suburban Lawns, Brainiacs - Club 88, August 1979

The Vktms, The Brainiacs - Club 88, August 31, 1979

The Brainiacs, Zilch - Hong Kong Cafe, October 30, 1979

Mnemonic Devices, The Brainiacs - Hong Kong Cafe, November 27, 1979

Nervous Gender, Fear, The Brainiacs - Anti Club, December 6, 1979

The Clones, Subhumans, The Brainiacs - Hong Kong Cafe, December 20, 1979

Frontman Wayzata Camerone was an L.A. musician who played sax & sang for The Brainiacs from 1979-1981. He also ran a notorious afterhours punk club frequented by X, Blasters, Plugx, Go-Go’s, Fear, Weirdos, etc.

photo by Wayzata Camerone

There is a blog administered by executors of his estate that features Wayzata’s rarely seen black-&-white photographs. His photography 'documents a nocturnal world fueled by restless desire'.

The Brainiacs - Drunk with Funk b/w Fashion Duress 12" 45rpm,
Mental Heath Records 004, 1981.
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Wayzata Camerone - vocals & C melody saxophone; Jeff Freeman - rhythm guitar; John Shourt - lead guitar & keyboards; Scot Boyd - Fender bass & backing vocals; Dave Spafford - bells; & Vito 'Jack' Codini - skins & handguns.

A side: Drunk with Funk
B side: Fashion Duress

Enjoy,
NØ

Burns me raw!

something to listen to while you read The Residents - Mourning the Undead from The Tune of Two Cities, part two of the Mole trilogy in which the musick of the Moles & the Chubs is compared.

& Now a Word From Our Sponsors

In Vitro Veritas

something to listen to while you read... The Meatmen - Jerkin' Off from Toilet Slave, 1994.

Blind Blake

Blind Blake & his Guitar - He's in the Jailhouse Now, Paramount Records 12565, 1927.

P is a band, not a liquid or a fruit

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 09/02/2013. Enjoy, NØ.




This one has been re-issued by Caroline Records CAR 93398 in 2007, so if you like it, go buy it. The original LP is on wonderfully pee-colored yellow vinyl.


P was a short-lived band formed in early 1993 by Butthole Surfers frontman Gibby Haynes - vocals, actor Johnny Depp - guitar & bass, actor Sal Jenco - percussion, & songwriter Bill Carter - guitar & bass. Additional musicians: Ruth Ellsworth Carter - keyboards, Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) - bass, Steve Jones (Sex Pistols) - guitar, Chuck E. Weiss - washboard, & Andrew Weiss - Mellotron & bass. The band performed their first show at the Austin Music Awards in 1993 & released their eponymous album on November 21, 1995 on Capitol Records. They played the odd gig at The Viper Room, of which Depp used to be co-owner. One of these gigs was played on October 30, 1993, where the lineup included Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers. Haynes, along with other members of the line-up that night, was a good friend of actor River Phoenix. While the band were in the middle of their song Michael Stipe, which includes the lines "I'm glad I met old Michael Stipe, I didn't get to see his car. Him & River Phoenix were leaving on the road tomorrow" & "but we didn't have a part, not a piece of our heart, not Michael, River Phoenix or Flea or me." Phoenix (unbeknownst to the band at the time) was outside the venue having seizures on the sidewalk. Phoenix died in the early hours of October 31 of heart failure brought on by an overdose of cocaine & heroin.

Although the original idea was that of a Texas roots-rock boogie band, P is everything the Butthole Surfers should be: sick & twisted, dayglo, vulgar, ugly & funny, mean-spirited & self-abusive, out of control & shameless. Gibby is in top form, describing a funhouse ride of vocal hysterics; he even whips out an impressive scrawling noise-guitar solo. Beyond the nearly sincere cover of ABBA's "Dancing Queen" & a full-frontal clambake (complete with electric sitar) of Daniel Johnston's queasy "I Save Cigarette Butts", the group's own inventions are richly absurd, whether taking friendly pop aim at "Michael Stipe," exploring the depths of dub in "Jon Glenn (Mega Mix)" or wailing out a rugged twelve-bar, "White Man Sings the Blues."

P - Self-titled, Capitol Records 7243832942, 1995.
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Side 1 -

I Save Cigarette Butts (Daniel Johnston)
Zing Splash
Michael Stipe
Oklahoma
Dancing Queen (ABBA)
Jon Glenn [Mega Mix]

Side 2 -

Mr. Officer
White Man Sings The Blues
Die Anne
Scrapings From Ring
The Deal

Enjoy while you can, it may not last...
NØ