Let’s Move on to Jazz

 

In keeping with the Black History Month theme...Jazz.

 

Jazz originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th/early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues & ragtime.

 

As I like my reggae Dubbed & my funk(psych)Adelic, I like my jazz Free. Free your jazz & your mind will follow.

 

Jazz was always a break-through for improvisation in music & thus created freedom. Yet jazz was mired deeply in a swamp of strict structures. Free jazz broke free from that morass into an open space of  "free tonality" in which meter, beat, & formal symmetry no longer applied.

 

The first major stirrings came in the 1950s with the early work of Ornette Coleman (whose 1960 album Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation coined the term).

 

So in honor of breaking free from formal symmetry, I'll both start & end this chapter with the O.C...Sir Ornette Coleman.

Ornette Coleman Quartet - The Unprecedented Music of Ornette Coleman, 

Lotus LOP 14.074, 1980.
all decryption codes in comments

Lato 1 -
Lonely Woman
Monsieur le Prince

Lato 2 -
Forgotten Children
Buddah Blues

The Unprecedented Cast: Ornette Coleman - alto saxophone, trumpet, & shanai; Charles Haden  & David Izenzon - bass; & Ed Blackwell - drums. All written by Ornette.

 

Albert Ayler et al. - New York Eye & Ear Control, ESP Disk 1016, 1966.

side A -
Don's Dawn
AY

side B -
ITT

NY E & E Crew: Albert Ayler - tenor saxophone; Don Cherry - trumpet; John Tchicai - alto saxophone; Roswell Rudd - trombone; Gary Peacock - bass; & Sonny Murray - drums.

Another one from ESP 1966...

Charles Tyler Ensemble - Self-titled, ESP Disk 1029, 1966.

side A -
Strange Uhuru
Lacy's Out East

side B -
Three Spirits
Black Mysticism

 

Anthony Braxton - News from the 70s, Felmay fy 7005, 1999.

Composition 23E
Composition 8C
Composition -1
Composition -2
Composition 8G
Four Winds

Ornette Coleman & Prime Time - Opening the Caravan of Dreams, 

Caravan of Dreams Productions CDP85001, 1985.

Side 1 -
To Know What You Know
Harmolodic Bebop
Sex Spy

Side 2 -
City Living
See-Thru
Compute

The Prime Time Crew: Bern Nix & Charles Ellerbee - guitar; Albert MacDowell & Jamaaladeen Tacuma - bass; & Denardo Coleman & Sabir Kamal - drums.

Enjoy,
NØ

Lovers Rock Wackies Style

 

Black History Month

 

 

As the beloved Morgan Freeman sez: "I don't want a Black History month. Black History is American History."   But the greatest thing about Black History Month is that it is a time when the culture & contributions of African Americans take center stage. These contributions are highlighted in a variety of cultural institutions including theaters, schools, libraries, & museums. Nowhere are the contributions of African Americans more greatly showcased for me than through the voices of Black Musick.

 I have decided to concentrate my efforts this month on some of their music on this forum. Hope you enjoy.

One Draw

 

Since DUB is my lifeblood & Lloyd Barnes' studio at 4371 White Plains Road, Bronx, NY was probably the very first DUB studio in the USofA, good place to start this thing. 

 

I’ve covered a great deal of Wackies output here or here or here in the past.

 

 

The key to Barnes' Bullwackies sound was his unique use of relatively humble tools: a moog synthesizer; a DI box for that distinctive quaking bass: & a big Ampex machine for his eight track tape recorder (this machine now finds a home in the Les Paul Museum). Slight but significant innovations were also made with a special booth constructed for the recording of the drums which Lloyd covered in tailored padding & aluminum foil. Somehow, the process created a sound that still transcends.

 

I'm gonna start at the beginning, with the first album, Wackies #1...

Wackies Rhythm Force - African Roots Act 1, W-0001, 1975.

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Side A -

Addis Ababa Dub
Rock Ago Rock
Undying Dub
Freedom Dub
Gem Rock Dub

Side B -
Wackies Rock Tune
Mozambique Trial
Always Dubbing
Betrayers Call
This Exit

Roots Underground - Tribesman Assault, Wackies Senta-L-0038, 1977.

Side A -
High Times
Makka Root
Tribal Rock
Dread Feeling
Wrong Cord

Side B -
Shotgun Skank
Disco Reggae Rocker
Black Brigade
Tribesman Assualt
Open the Gates (K.C. White & the Love Joys)

 

 

The Chosen Brothers -  Sing & Shout, Wackies W2457, 1985.

Side A -
There You Are
Sing & Shout
Jah Don't Like That
Hey Lady
Joy, Joy

Side B -
I Gave You Love
Dancing in the Rain
Mash Down Babylon
Back to Africa
All Things

 

Most of the rest of these are with non-JA, US-based artists 

 

 

Joe Morgan & Reckless Breed - Basement Session 7", Bullwackies Records Senta-0033, 1976.

 
Side A -
Basement Session

Side B -
Basement Scrub

 

Joe Axumite - No Equal Rights in Babylon, City Line Records SENTA-2004, 1978.

Side A -
No Equal Rights in Babylon - Joe Axumite

Side B -
No Equal Rights in Babylon (version) - Bullwackies All Stars

 

Itopia - Creation, Wackies-272A, 1981.

Side A -
Creation

Side B -
Creation Dubwise version

 

Itopia - Message from Jah, Wackies-273, 1981.

Side A -
Message from Jah

Side B -
Message from Jah Dubwise version

 

 

Junior Delehaye - Showcase, Wackies W-1382, 1982.

Side A -
Love
(I Love You) For All Seasons
All I Need is Jah

Side B -
Travelling Man
Sitting in the Park
Your All I Need (Movie Show)

 

 

Love Joys - Lovers Rock Reggae Style, Wackies W-2383, 1983.

Side A -
One Draw
Long Lost Lover
Stranger

Side B -
Let Me Rock You Now
Chances Are
All I Can Say

 

 

Jah Batta - Argument, Wackies W-2395, 1983.

Side A -
No Meat
Ten to Seven
Argument
I Don't Want to Wait
Mi Black

Side B -
Youthman School
Hold on 'Pon the Woman
Informa (Watch It)
Youthman Time
Out a Reach

 

 

Wackies Rhythm Force - The Dub Generals, Wackies W-2191, 1994.

Side A -
Brass Pipes
Rockfort Rock
Drum Song
Song Maker

Side B -
Pie Song
African Rootie
Music Man Rock
Version Pipe

 

& a few scattered left-overs...

 

Various - Wackies Showcase: Choice Cuts, NØ Comps, 2021.

Mango Walk (Dubwise version) - Chosen Brothers
Working Hard for the Rent Man - Junior Delahaye
Roots Rock Special (extended version) - Wackies
Gimme Back (Part 2) - Love Joys w/ Wackies Rhythm Force
Movie Show Dubwise - Bullwackies All Stars
Mystic Revellation - Junior Delahaye
March Down Babylon version - The Chosen Brothers

 

Let's end with Bullwackies All Stars one more time...scratching guitar & scorching street stride bass rhythm & horn, the kind which usually accompanies the deadpan cool of some mustachioed, ball-busting, honkey-slapping Blaxploitation vigilante. A surprisingly balanced mix of DUB & funk released on Aires, one of Wackies many sister imprints.

 

Bullwackies All Stars - Skin Tight, Aires BJ-119, 1975.

Side A -
Skin Tight Part 1

Side B -
Skin Tight Part 2

Enjoy,
NØ

Mobilize the Lumpenproletariat

The Lumpen Proles were a punky new wave band from Albany, New York.  

 

 

They only released one 7" single "She Wasn’t Home" b/w "Positive Thinking" in 1983 on No Crust Records. They had a few tracks on various compilations ("World in Darkness" on the Live at 288 comp recorded in September 1983 at the notorious 288 Lark Street, Albany & "You Can't Forget (alternate intro)" on the 1982s Hudson Rock comp. 

 

 

The band featured: Scot Gray - lead guitar & backing vocals; Josh Vincent - bass & vocals; & William S. Rella - drums & backing vocals.

I dug up this recording of a live show they preformed in Albany summer 1983.

Lumpen Proles - Live in Albany '83, NØ Comps, 2021.
decryption code in comments

It's Not the Same

She Wasn't Home

Room 355

Play for Today

In America

Worlds in Darkness

You Can't Forget

Soldier

People are Temperature

I Can't Wait

Bootlegs, babee.

Enjoy,

NØ

Until All Our Lights Combine

Long time since I played the Bills redux...since when aeoplanes were dragonflies.

Earlier today I posted up Channel Light Vessel's 1994 release Automatic. This is a project that included Bill Nelson along with Roger Eno, Kate St. John, Laraaji, & others. I realized I had previously posted it elsewhere on this here mess so I removed it & am going to remedy that omission right now.

 

 

I have never really posted up Be Bop Deluxe but someday plan to get around to their five disc opus Futurist Manifesto - The Harvest Years 1974-1978. For now I'm posting up a live show from Chicago in 1976 covering the Sunburst Finish era material. However, that being said...non-Sunburst "Bill's Blues" will fix whatever ails you.

Be Bop Deluxe - Live at the Riviera Theater, Chicago, 1976.
all decryption codes in comments

Fair Exchange
Stage Whisper
Life in the Air Age
Sister Seagull
Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape
Maid in Heaven
Ships in the Night
Bill's Blues
Blazing Apostles

Bill Nelson - guitar & vocals; Andy Clark - keyboards; Charlie Tumahai - bass & vocals; & Simon Fox - drums.

 

I posted Getting the Holy Ghost Across elsewhere. This is a set of remixes of  "Because of You" from that album. (I tacked on the original album track for your listening pleasure.)

Bill Nelson - Because of You remixes, Portrait RAS 2568, 1986.

Side 1 -
Because of You (Popstand remix)

Side 2 -
Because of You (Nailed to the Dub version)
Because of You (Dubbed to the Drums version)

bonus: Because of You (original album version)

 

Now here's a taste of 21st Century Bill.

2008 saw Nelson caught up in a flurry of composition. By July he had completed sixty four tracks which he split up between this release & Clocks & Dials. These are the more vocal-oriented tracks. This is some of the very finest music from one of my all time favorite guitarists/songcrafters. Believe me when I say that's quite a statement about someone with William Nelson's body of work. This is so very, purely...dare I say it..Bowiesque. I can't really say enough about this. Just give it a listen. You will not be disappointed.

Bill Nelson - Golden Memories of Tomorrow, Sonoluxe CD012, 2008.

Welcome to Electic City
Once I Had a Time Machine
Summer Hums in the Bee-Loud Glade
Frosty Lawns (Snowballs & Oranges)
God Glows Green in Small Town Park
My Empty Bowl is Full of Sky
When Aeroplanes Were Dragonflies
Night is the Engine of My Imagination
The Old Nebulosity Waltz
Help Us Magic Robot
Time’s Quick-Spun Globe
Fountains are Singing in Cities of Light
The Emperor of the Evening
I Saw Galaxies
Until All Our Lights Combine
Heaven is a Haunted Realm
Golden Melodies of Tomorrow
Golden Coda (Farewell to Electric City)

Fare thee well.

Enjoy,
NØ

The Marcel Shimmy

 

Like a musical chameleon, Kramer completely shed his pop/indie skin for his next two solo releases, which were both commissioned by John Zorn for his new Tzadik label.

Coming first in 1998 (& featuring the extraordinary contributions of violist Deni Bonet) Let Me Explain Something to You About Art comprises three compositions that take the listener deep into a Proustian world of memory, loss, & longing. A wholly unsentimental meditation on aging & an imaginary soundtrack for the dying, it is quite possibly Kramer's most emotional work; an internal journey that begins in a world we all recognize as our own but ends in a Kubrickian landscape as alien to us as the final scenes of 2001; A Space Odyssey.

John Zorn stated, "Kramer has now come into his own as a composer."

Kramer - Let Me Explain Something to You About Art, Tzadik TZ 7119, 1998.
decryption code in comments

Umberto D
Odds Against Tomorrow
Jupiter & the Infinite

Next are the Greenberg variations.

Enjoy,
NØ

 note: Anyone following these latest ramblings might want to hear The Fugs with Kramer on bass. You can pick up a great one: The Fugs - Songs from a Portable Forest over at Zero G Sound. If you do, tell’em Nathan sent you.

 NØ

Hardcore Shimmy

 

 

The latest request for additional Shimmy, this go-around is some art noise from Belgium. Thanks to hardkor for the ask.

Perverted by Desire is a Nieuwerkerken, Limburg, Belgian experimental noise rock band formed in 1984 as the perverted love-child of a number of experimental projects (Ensemble Jean Dumoulin, Ah-Rates, Cadavre exquis, & Manifobia). For the first 5 years their only releases were self-released cassettes distributed among friends). During this period the band played a few rare performances.
    
After a few line-up changes (Bo Lemaître - bass & Genis Ugly - vocals) their first album Dance Music for Dying Soldiers was recorded in 1989 at the Amsterdam Cow Rental Company studio . The overall reception was overwhelmingly positive & the band's initial uncertainty turned into self-confidence.

 

For the second release, La Sigla del Sadico Esperto, Kramer was hired as producer. Kramer's efforts resulted in a harder, more devastating record full of hidden sounds & blaring feedback.
    
For the third album the group went to Kramer's Noise New Jersey studio. Technically the band's growth advanced both in terms of recording facilities & musically. Although Kuvun Huuto was not a million seller, both  the musical press & hardcore perverted music lovers were thrilled.

After the album Kuvun Hunto the band name was shortened to Perverted.

The Band:  Genis Ugly - baby toys, shaking eggs, latin drum, synthesizer, tapes, guitars, & vocals; K. Rel - keyboards, slide guitar, vocals, & guitars; Bo Lemaitre - glockenspiel, bongo, tapes, backing vocals, & bass guitars; with Anne Kahelin - backing vocals & cow bell; Guy A3Aensen - slide guitar, backing vocals, congas & cowbell; Kramer - fuzz bass, jazz bass. & Hamond organ; Babi 'Bungy Wungy' Olatungi -congas; Steve Watson - synthesizer, enthusiasm, & energy; Nasser - snare drum & rattle; & J.M.H. Berckmans - voice.

Perverted (by Desire) - Kuvun Huuto, Shimmy Disc Boot 5, 1993.
decryption code in comments

01 Fin*Einde
02 Riddle
03 Boris
04 Y. A. Til Une Vie Avant la Mort
05 Kesytetty
06 M Nr
07 This Is How The Story Goes
08 Wasn’t It Our Turn 2b Hyped?
09 Song for Sinead
10 We All Drove Away Whistling
11 Fuga? Si! No Means? No!
12 Witch on a Horse With Devil
13 Red Lorry Story
14 5 Teenagers Drowned
15 Music to Shop By
16 Riddle (Reprise)

Once more back to Tzadik.

Enjoy,
NØ

The Rutland Shimmy

 

 

Another Shimmy request, this time from flojo23. Rutles cover tunes by the army of Shimmy bands. Great choice. Glad to oblige.

The Rutles sprang forth in a Rutland Weekend Television spin off called All You Need is Cash, a pseudo-documentary that quickly gained cult following. On the strength of the TV movie, several recordings were released featuring Eric Idle, Ricky Fataar (ex-Beach Boy [Holland period]), John Halsey (ex-Timebox, Patto, & more), Ollie Halsall (ex-Timebox, Patto, Boxer, & again many more), led by musical director & song writing genius Neil Innes (ex Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band & Monty Python).

You don't necessarily have to know the recordings of The Rutles to appreciate this collection but that does add to the overall enjoyment. There's a lot of diversity on these covers: prog; folk; punk; avant-garde; electronica; & outsider. They all add depth & fire to Innes's clever Beatlesesque parodies.

Various Artists - Rutles Highway Revisited (a Tribute to the Rutles),
Shimmy Disc shimmy-00000000000000000000000000000000000000000041 ,1990.
decryption code in comments

Side A -
Cheese & Onions - Galaxie 500
Hold My Hand - The Pussywillows
Number One - Bongos, Bass, & Bob
Good Times Roll Lida Husik
Another Day - Dogbowl
Piggy in the Middle - Das Damen
I Must Be in Love - Syd Straw & Marc Ribot
Nevertheless - Joey Arias
Let's Be Natural - When People Were Shorter & Lived Near the Water
Between Us - Unrest

Side B -
Ouch - Peter Stampfel & the Bottlecaps
Blue Suede Schubert - The Tinklers
Living in Hope - Tuli Kupferberg
Baby Let Me Be - Daniel Johnston
It's Looking Good - Uncle Wiggly
Goose Step Mama - Shonen Knife
Get Up & Go _ Jellyfish Kiss
Doubleback Alley - King Missile
With a Girl Like You - Paleface
Love Life - Bongwater

Soon off to Tzadik land.

Enjoy,
NØ

Dead Pink Shimmy

 

Kramer's third solo LP (& final part of the trilogy), Songs from the Pink Death, is a dark, deeply introspective look into the subterranean world inhabited by the artist's own inner demons. More atypically, more brutally evocative than either of his previous solo ventures, this features heartbreaking ballads alongside impactful sonic statements defining Kramer's labyrinthian inner landscape. This release is aided immensely by the musical contributions of ex-Galaxie 500 drummer Damon Krukowski & ex-Luna guitarist Sean Eden, each of whom showcase some of their career-best work on this LP.

Kramer - Songs from the Pink Death, Shimmy Disc SHM-502, 1998.
decryption code in comments

The Funny Scene
Buddy Holly Will Never Die
The Opium Wars Have Long Ceased
Don't Come Around
The Parasite Song
The Pink Death Song of Love
It Never Stops Being Absurd
Eddie Called Back on the Carphone
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
The Hot Dog Song
It's Alright if She Don't Love You Right

Next, let me explain something to you about art.

Enjoy,
NØ

JRat Shimmy

Friend of NSS JRat requested Milkweeds by Milksop Holly as one of the Shimmy Disc's he'd like to hear.

 

 

South Berwick, Maine's Mara Flynn released two albums as Milksop Holly (1999 & 2000 on Shimmy Disc). She has sung on albums by Guy Capecelatro III, Jad Fair, & Hamlet Idiot.

Milksop Holly combines the talents of singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Mara Flynn & Shimmy Disc honcho/guitarist/bassist/vocalist/producer Kramer.  They have crafted an vessel of soft, hypnotic pop songs, all acoustic guitars & heartbroken lyrics.

Milksop Holly is: Mara Flynn - acoustic guitar & vocals; Tom Rutishauer - cello, & Kramer - everthing else.

Milksop Holly - Milkweeds, Shimmy Disc SHM-094, 1998.
decryption code in comments

Xmas
Devil’s Advocate
Companion
I'm Not The One
Daylight Savings
Temporary Home
Hoboken Lament
Stop the Clock
Grandma's House
What is it You Want?
Frying Pan Lane
Horseplay Honeymoon

Back to Kramer.

Enjoy,
NØ

The Secret of Shimmy: 9 - 7 = 2

 

Kramer's big plan was a trilogy of triple-LP's like The Guilt Trip. What followed instead in 1994 was The Secret of Comedy, a conventional length single album. Kramer had set out to make the 2nd part of the triple trilogy, but once he'd completed the two LP sides, he clearly saw that it had an obvious beginning & a concise end.

The Secret Of Comedy is a darkly humorous but essentially "pop" venture laced with Kramer's catchy songs, brimming with lyrical surprises that seem more accessible than on The Guilt Trip. Still, The Secret of Comedy maintains the found-sounds bites & surrealist text manipulations that make all of Kramer's output as an audio artist & producer so other-worldly.

On The Secret of Comedy: Kramer - most instruments; Randy Hudson - guitar; Bill Bacon - drums.

Kramer - The Secret of Comedy, Shimmy Disc SHIMMY-075, 1994.
decryption code in comments

Nine Minus Seven is Two
The Secret of Suicide
Midnight
Strings
The Secret of Philosophy
I Can Watch
Who are You Today?
My Rock'n Roll
The Secret of the Band
Sounds Like?
Wishing Well
Second Coda

Next is songs from the pink death.

Enjoy,
NØ

The Lawsuit Shimmy Begins

 

 

 In 1992 Kramer sold his Noise New York recording studio. He moved just across the Hudson River, where he'd found a house located 10 minutes outside of NYC that was going into foreclosure. Built into the house was a state-of-the-art 24-track recording studio. He dubbed the studio Noise New Jersey.

The first complete recording of Noise New Jersey, The Guilt Trip, is a sprawling behemoth. 36 songs recorded with friend & drummer David Licht along with Kramer's high school chum Randy Hudson. For his first solo effort, Kramer layers on an array of hot-wired psychedelia & ambiance on everything from simple pop song structures to grand instrumental overtures. 

The Guilt Trip was created during an emotionally violent period in Kramer's personal life. He was going through a divorce while handling a lawsuit Anne Magnuson had filed against him & Shimmy Disc. Magnuson sought compensation of $4.5 million, charging Kramer with fraud, breach of contract, & copyright infringement. Kramer hit back, filing a countersuit. The resulting legal imbroglio would last nearly three years.  

The Guilt Trip presented a series of songs that reference his legal troubles, including "Kathleen, I'm Sorry", "Not Guilty'" & '"Won't Get Far Without Me".  Lyrically, Kramer throws revenge, love, devotion, forgiveness, & atonement into the mix. He often refers to it as his "exorcism", insisting that he would not have survived the multiple traumas he was fighting without it. The healing power of Art is a constant theme of this huge piece of work.

Kramer - The Guilt Trip, Shimmy Disc shimmy 055, 1992.
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Disc One -
Ouverture
Stupid Summer
Got What I Deserved
Not Guilty
Wisdom Sits
Stubb's Hallucination
The Drowning Heart
Welcome Home
Swallow Up Jonah
Hello Music
The Murder of God
You Don't Know
The Wall of Sleep
The Guilt Trip
Wait for the Hate
Natasha Disappears
Big of You
My Friend Daniel

Disc Two -
The Maximus Poems
The Seven Seizures
Thank You Music
Kathleen I'm Sorry
God Will See You
I’m Your Fan
The Bosom Friend
I Love You
Next Time, Try Compassion
Charlotte's Brain
Mudd Hutt Four
The Well Hung Jury
Won't Get Far Without Me
Ball Five
She Won't Let Go
I've Seen the End
Coda.

Next I'll let you in on the secret of comedy.

Enjoy,
NØ

Broken Radio Shimmy

 

Second & final release from The Captain Howdy. 

Again Kramer doing most all instruments & Jillette doing vocals with guests Billy West on guitars, Bill Bacon percussion, Tess (Mark's daughter) Kramer adding some vocals on "Man Bites Dog". 

This is Shimmy-091 of the original series.

The Captain Howdy - Money Feeds My Music Machine, Shimmy Disc SHM-5135, 1998.
decryption code in comments

Always Something There to Remind Me
I Just Don’t Wanna Try
Old Man
Man Bites Dog
If You Love Me, Kill Your Dog
I Just Wanna Get Laid
I Long for Kyoto
Don’t Fuck with the Phoenix
Shut Up
Radio’s Broke
Barry’s Lament

Next I’ll lay a guilt trip on ya.

Enjoy,
NØ

No Cuts in Shimmyland

 Although I veered from the Shimmy Disc catalogue to featuring Kramer hisself, I am taking requests for various shimmy. 

 

Jonder wants more of The Rev. Fred Lane, this one with les Debonairs. Here ye be.

Fred Lane / Ron 'Pate's Debonairs – From The One That Cut You,
Shimmy Disc shimmy 000000000000000000000021, 1989.
decryption code in comments

Side A -
Fun in the Fundus
Danger is My Beer
I Talk to My Haircut
From the One that Cut You

Side B -
Rubber Room
Mystic Tune
Oatmeal
Meat Clamp Conduit

Enjoy,
NØ