Playing Hopscotch
by Thomas Schulte
**************************************************************
Outsight brings to light non-mainstream music, film, books, art, ideas and opinions.
Published, somewhere, monthly since July 1991. Feel free to re-print this article.
Please, keep Outsight informed: 248-623-1601 or
Email Outsight at outsight@usa.net
Ratings are (1) = :(, (5) = đ
Outsight Radio Hours Internet radio Webcasts with live interviews:
Sundays 6pm-8pm EST http://www.new-sounds.net
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HOPSCOTCH RECORDS
Hopscotch Records is a vibrant
label with a full catalogue of modern free jazz recommended for fans of Aum
Fidelity, cutting edge jazz on Thirsty Ear and the like. Four albums from the
label have kept my CD carousel occupied for several days. Each is a unique ensemble
and similarly packaged in three-color cardboards folder with an indie aesthetic
approaching punk rock design principles. Among the revolving cast is pianist/percussionist
Cooper-Moore and Chicago Underground drummer Chad Taylor. Along with bassist
Tom Abbs, this trio is on the album Triptych Myth. Cooper-Moore is in
a duo setting with reeds man Assif Tsahar who also plays a little classical
guitar on America. This album leads with a vocal title track (music on
the four discs is generally instrumental) with a tone and message similar to
Allen Ginsbergâs Howl. The music is also more basic, more primitive and
even rural (âBack Porch Chillâ), but still very lively. Tsahar is in another
duo with percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani on Come Sunday. That album is
like stormy weather; it ebbs between a rage and quiescence. JAM, another
very worthy album, features Mat Maneri on five-string electric violin with Tsahar
again and Jim Black on drums.
</p>
TKO Trio
Less is More is rare oi/street punk tracks from Wretched Onesâ entire
history. These tracks are all making a CD debut and are all from small label
7â releases like Force Majeure, Headache, Black Hole and more. There are also
seven unlisted bonus tracks, apparently all covers. I was able to identify six:
Minor Threatâs âGood Guys (Donât Wear White)â, âPirate Loveâ (New York Dolls), âNo More
Heroesâ (Stranglers), Connie Francisâ âLipstick On Your Collarâ. AC/DCâs âLive
Wireâ and âAmerica The Beautifulâ What is the other? ⌠Those Unknown offers
a collection of rare street punk material called Scraps. This covers
the years 1991-6 and all songs are either previously unreleased or long out
of print. 15 of the 16 tracks have never been on CD before⌠Hearkening back
to the original oi sound is Atlantaâs Adolf & The Piss Artists. Adolf and companyâs
new CD on TKO is Hate Generator and it follows up on its promise of no-holds-barred
hard punk
</p>
<
p align=”center”>Listen
to or Buy Wretched Ones at Amazon.com</a>
to or Buy Those Unknown at Amazon.com</a>
</p>
READABLES ***************************************
READING WITH FRIENDLY RICH
Friendly Rich calls his book/CD combination
release âan anti-music videoâ. The single track is matched with an illustration
of its narrative lyrics in Magnified Lyle (Pumpkin
Pie Corporation</a>). The work concludes with a reading of dramatic personae,
which adds to its theatrical quality. It is a morbid tale of a childâs ant-burning
antics becoming a global holocaust. Fans of Captain Beefheart lyrics (one line:
âher melanoma chuckledâ) and Tom Greenâs humor will appreciate this⌠Elaborating
on this theme, Friendly Rich offers the cryptic De Rien. This is a collection
of essays and poems along with a âlistening activityâ called Mercy. No
track listing accompanies the CD, which in this case does not follow the text.
The audio is live audio miscellany and field recordings from a carousel organ
rally. The two are âblendedâ for your schizophrenic pleasure. However De
Rien</i> is not presently commercially available. Hear Rich himself discuss
these projects and earlier works in a series of three audio interviews produced
by Outsight Radio Hours at musicsojourn.com.
</p>
Various Authors
Nude Tent Torso, Issue No. 1: The Pink Couch Project
Vireonyx Publications, POB 431147, Pontiac,
MI 48343-1147
This premier issue of Nude Tent Torso is a collaboration of authors on the theme
of a pink couch. Generally, the writing takes a humorous direction as the many
manifestations of the pink couch takes on mythic proportions in mock-honorific
poetry, short stories, graphics, and even a script. Some of the most memorable
pieces are âThe Pink Couch Periodic Table Projectâ (multiple authors), the imaginary
film reviews of âPink Couch Cinema: Films from the Pink Couch Film Festivalâ
(my favorite, by Mark Ashley), and Denise Thomasâ surrealistic piece that begins
âFresh baked pandemonium/tattooed on a pink couchâ. (3.5)
</p>
All Music
All Music Guide to Country, 2nd Ed.
With country music and its manifestations reaching ever deeper into the worldâs
cultural psyche, All Music offers this in-depth encyclopedic guide to the massive
genre. The book covers the extended bluegrass scene given greater popularity
by O Brother Where Art Thou? with entries from the close harmony traditionalists
Osborne Brothers to such progressives as Darrell Scott. Doc Watson gets four
pages and the FM country scene from Dwight Yoakam to popular Western swing revivalists
Asleep at the Wheel is here. The alt-country scene is present, too, covered
from Bloodshot recording artist Robbie Fulks to the popular Old 97âs. The entries
are in the expected form for these successful All Music cyclopedias. That is,
biographies and then key reviews with recommended starting points. This makes
for over 10,000 rated reviews. The well-indexed tome includes style descriptions,
a section for compilations, soundtracks, essential albums by genre and two dozen
rich essays on aspects of country music, like âCountry on Filmâ and âCountry
Soundtracksâ. This is an invaluable resource for the serious fan of any part
of the varied country music spectrum. Where else would you find that The Residents,
Savoy Brown and Elvis Costello all drew on the early â70s countrified British
pub rock group Chilli Willi & the Red Hot Peppers for members? (5)
</p>
<
p align=”center”> <a
href=âhttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0879307609/outsighthomepageâ target=_new>
More on the book from Amazon.com</a></p>
Farming Uncle International Journal
No. 92, Winter 2003-04
Box 427, Bronx, NY 10458
Farming Uncle is a self-described “alternative network magazine
devoted to holistic living.” The quarterly is a photocopied and saddle-stitched
digest. Small classifieds and quips and tips on life and land-based liberty
make up the bulk of the journal. There is also a few interesting agrarian reprints,
like a piece on beekeeping in Syria and a advertising paean to the Welsummer
breed of fowl. Recipes can also be found here. (3)
</p>
VINYL REVIEWS ***************************************
Various Artists
Best Bands Forever
The upper Midwest bands The Front (Casper,
WY) and 1090 Club (Billings, MT) gives
us a dose of remote punk on this split seven-inch. The A-Side is an alternate
version of âQuarantineâ by The Front, which is a punk ballad of sublimated intensity.
The band is quite excited about this version of the song being the groupâs vinyl
debut on this limited edition of 500 copies of transparent wax. And they should
be, it is well worth hearing. 2090 Clubâs âSome Equals Oneâ is a shimmering
gem of indie pop confection, which blends well since The Front pulled in the
reins so much. (3.5)</p>
The Neurotic Swingers
Art Rats
This French punk rock band offers an old-school sound on this LP. The band draws
heavily on the North American punk tradition, like Teenage Head, The Saints,
Dead Boys and New York Dolls. Another influence is Franceâs Dogs. âNineteenâ
on this album is a cover from that band. So, this is a very hard rock-influenced
take on punk with heavy riffs and pronounced choruses. (3.5)
</p>
Leg Hounds
Leg Hounds
New York punk rock groups (New York Dolls, Dictators) and â60s trash rock (Sonics,
Wailers) inspire this band. However the Wisconsin group also has a melodic and
romantic streak that allows for such ballads as âToo Lateâ. This is a fun and
rocking album that is a time capsule of what was cool and underground thirty
years ago and remains vital today. (3)
</p>
The Master Plan
Colossus of Destiny
This is an LP-only release of a New York supergroup of sorts by Demolition Derby.
Keith Streng is on guitar and vocals here, as he was in The Fleshtones, as was
drummer Bill Milhizer. Making for a good two-guitar lineup is Paul âPeppermintâ
Johnson (Waxing Poetics). Also adding vocals, as do all members, is bassist Andy
Shernoff (The Dictators). The music is fun, a blast of â60s garage rock. Everyone
but Milhizer is credited with songwriting, which contributes to the variety of
this great rock-n-roll record. With all the history in this band, you know some
cool covers are going to happen. That happens on side two. We get here a version
of Lloyd Priceâs âJust Becauseâ (also recorded by Freddy Fender), âAnnie Had a
Babyâ the answer song to âWork with me Annieâ, âBroken Arrowâ (Chuck Berry) and
Eastern Darkâs Australian garage pop classic âWalkingâ. (4)
Tsar</a>
âStraightâ b/w âThe Creature in Disguiseâ
Tsar places itself between joyously rocking glam that is in no way self-conscious
and the eerie, guitar based goth rock sound that gave us Bauhaus and Siouxsie
Sioux. Shades of that goth loom over the B-Side âThe Creature in Disguiseâ. âStraightâ
is an anthem to glam throwbacks in the spirit of New York Dolls delivered with
Dead Boys passion. (4)
DVD REVIEWS ***************************************
William S. Burroughs
Commissioner of Sewers
To a backdrop of music by Jorge Reyes, Fish for Fish, F.M. Einheit, and Burroughs
this DVD treats the viewer to Burroughs readings, interviews and film excerpts.
Films excerpted include Thanksgiving Prayer (Gus van Sant), Decoder
(Maeck/Muscha) and the Antony Balch films Towers Open Fire, The Cut Ups
and Ghosts at No. 9. Through able editing, eye-catching images and good
pacing, filmmaker Klaus Maeck makes this film an entertaining and enlightening
documentary on the ideas, persona and style of the full developed Burroughs
mind. One common theme throughout is excerpts of a TV interview with German
writer Jurgen Ploog. Ploog awkwardly hits Burroughs with such topics as the
possibility of an afterlife and the old standby âadvice for young authorsâ.
Particularly entertaining is how Burroughs handles this series of unrelated
questions by using each answer to go into an attacking response or tangent much
more interesting than the question promised. (4)
</p>
<
p align=”center”>More
on the DVD from Amazon.com</a></p>
The Residents
Demons Dance Alone DVD
Euro Ralph/MVD
The Residents were early in the game on music videos (One Minute Movies),
synthesizer experimentation (use of the emulator) and user interactive CD-ROMs
(Freak Show). Now they dive into nigh vision as a weapon of concert documentation,
now war. While The Residents look ready for war in costumes based on cammo fatigues,
this convert footage is of the most introspective, personal and emotional music
yet to date from the mysterious group. (âLife Would be Wonderfulâ, âBettyâs
Bodyâ). Attempting to capture the darkened stage flooded with infrared light
presented a range of difficulties for these musical technophiles. After digital
processing The Residents came up with this DVD inviting us up on to the stage
to see the concert from the point of view of an all-access band memberâs pass.
A bonus extras section is a slide show of images from Icky Flix, Kettles
of Fish, Eskimo</i>, and Disfigured Night. (3.5)
</p>
<
p align=”center”>More
on the DVD from Amazon.com</a></p>
Various Artists
The 1962 Newport Jazz Festival
The visual quality is blurry, but just put this DVD on and enjoy the hot jazz
highpoints of this festival and glance at the screen from time to time, if you
would like. Captured here in small, representative episodes spliced together
are Count Basie, Joe Williams (â50s graduate of the Count Basie Orchestra),
Roland Kirk, Duke Ellington as well as piano greats Thelonious Monk and Oscar
Peterson and more. There are some biographies and discographies rounding out
the hour of audio and video. (3.5)
</p>
<
p align=”center”>More
on the DVD from Amazon.com</a></p>
CD REVIEWS ***************************************
Talk is the New Action
Along with âGasoline Canâ and âAmateurâ, one standout truck on the post-garage
indie rock album is âLive by Fire, Die by Fireâ. That title reminds me of the
Bukowski book âBurning in Water, Drowning in Flameâ. That leads me to fellow
Bukowski fan Adam Grossman who used that tile for the tile of a Skrew album.
This album from The Collisions reminds me of Grossmanâs earlier post-Texas punk
band Angkor Wat, at times. Angkor Wat was doing industrial music with a rock
combo, and it is the focus on heavy, persistent rhythms that is making that
connection for me. However, there is also a wild, unfettered, shrieking theatric
flair for the dramatic that really makes this disc singular and worth listening
to repeatedly. There is also something about a held-back laugh in the extreme
subject matter that suggests gallows humor and may be due to the fact that singer/songwriter/guitarist
Bo Barringer was a one-time gravedigger. All of this comes to a climax in the
trioâs fiery rendition of Robert Johnsonâs âMe & The Devil Bluesâ. (4)
</p>
Nevertheless Optimistic
The eccentric, quirky music of R. Stevie More recalls Jad Fair and Daniel Johnston.
Somewhat damaged pop and exuding a childish charm, this music also grabs the
listener with its catchy, memorable lyrics and spirit of instant joy. R. Stevie
Moore was a leader in the DIY home recording movement and this album selects
from his huge archive of home recordings for a selection covering 1975 – 2003.
Largely short on length, these pieces are long on comedic and cracked pop genius.
(4)
</p>
Weapon of Mass Instruction: Live
With wit and humor Greg Palast delivers a scathing review of the Dubya presidency
on this enhanced CD. The CD contains copies of government documents that Palast
uses as a basis for numerous topics, any one of which should be scandalous.
Topics include mechanizations by King George I to deliver Chevron oil money
to George W.âs campaign fund, Dubyaâs draft-dodging tenure in the Texas Air
Guard, connections from questionable Saudi arms dealer Adnan Kashoggi to the
Bush family and murderous gold-grabbing in Tanzania. Learn the name of World
Resource Institute member Tundu Lissu, the source of the video documentation
of those murdered in the mine takeover by Barrick Corporation – a Canadian-American
gold-mining operation that employed George Bush Sr. Perhaps the most explosive
is the revelations about pre-9/11 forced suppression of Bin Laden investigations
by the U.S. government. Palast makes the shocking entertaining with his delivery,
so this is enlightening and fun. Containing its own comedic content is Greg
Palastâs discovery of Katherine Harrisâ purge of thousands of Black citizens
from Floridaâs voter rolls especially the manic reaction of Harrisâ assistant.
The spreadsheet of the dropped voters – some for committing future crimes ala
Minority Report – is included on the CDâs files. (4.5)
</p>
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</p>
Various Artists
Spiders from Venus: Indie Women Artists and Female-Fronted Bands Cover David
Bowie</i>
The long-winded title sums up the angle here. This disc avoids the fate of most
compilations of being uneven with only a few shining tracks. First, the material
is, of course, excellent. The Bowie songbook is sampled from Space Oddity to
Heathen. This includes such songs as âGolden Yearsâ, âStarmanâ and âBoys Keep
Swingingâ. On hand to cover the Bowie material is Lunasect, Switchblade Kittens,
Neil Youngâs sister Astrid Young and Essra Mohawk, the critically acclaimed
singer-songwriter that has been making music since the â60s and was the âUncle
Meatâ of the Mothers of Invention. (3.5)
</p>
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p align=”center”>Listen
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</p>
Boss Martians
The Set-Up
This is a melodic indie rock album that strays into Elvis Costello-like territory
on âWalk Awayâ and âHeâll Be Aroundâ. So, this is pretty accessible stuff. This
may be garage punk, but the garage has a new automatic door, is heated and freshly
painted with everything in ship-shape order. This group has left its surf-rock
roots behind for something like polished Joe Jackson, witness the steppinâ out
on âOh, Angelaâ. (3)
</p>
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</p>
Hole in my Heart
This is a memorial CD by Jerome T. Youngman, a.k.a. Mutant Press, for his departed
mother. Youngman wrote all the original songs and performed all instruments.
Some of the songs directly etch out the details of sadness and uneasiness that
follow on the loss of a loved on, for example âFantasy Fixâ and âSeason of Sadâ.
Some are mad-at-the-world type songs (âCreeps at my Doorâ) and some are just
catharsis, like âBig time with Youâ and the cover of âWang Dang Doodleâ. Maybe
mom was a Dixon fan. It is amazing how sometimes Mutant Press sounds so much
life Johnny Dowd, witness âLetâs Float Awayâ and âBig time with Youâ. (3)
</p>
Lunar Ecstasy
Mountain Mirrors strives for a psychedelic rock sound that draws on Led Zeppelin
and Black Sabbath for its guitar style without quite reaching the same heights.
A lot of the beats are down tempo electro-beats. The genre blend is either dynamic
and vital or keeps the whole thing off-balance, depending on your point of view.
The album has its highpoints and is well produced. Lunar Ecstasy is recommended
if you like late-period Pink Floyd. (2.5)
</p>
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p align=”center”>Listen
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</p>
Cruisinâ For A Bruisinâ
Estrus Records
The basic, punk rock of The Bobbyteens draws much from The Ramones and New York
Dolls. The brazen ladies of the band seem to be of the kiss-and-tell variety.
The group dispenses with foreplay and launches right into a tale of the bathroom
wall (âJennyâ) as well as the total lack of hidden meaning in âHot Sweet ânâ
Stickyâ. One of the highpoints it the album is the cover of âHeâs So Dullâ done
originally by the Prince spin-off female trio Vanity 6. While the brassy punk
attitude of The Bobbyteens does not remind one of Vanity 6âs pop/new wave blend,
both bands feature three women waving a flag of wild, decadent, and trashy entertainment
for your listening and fantasizing pleasure. (3.5)
</p>
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</p>
The Black Keys
The Moan
The Black keys has so incorporated the Delta juke joint hard-liquor blues sound
that the duo of Patrick Carney (percussion) and Dan Auerbach (guitar/vocals)
sounds out with deep-rooted authenticity on each track of this 4-song CDEP.
The primitive instrumentation and raw blues sound is gritty and substantial.
Auerbach does not feel it necessary to growl aloud like Jon Spencer, but instead
lets flow melodically, if disjointedly, and the vocals are soulful, if rugged,
as in âHeavy Soulâ. Another standout track on the album is when the pair takes
Iggy Popâs âNo Funâ for a Mississippi drift down to where the kudzu grows. (4)
</p>
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p align=”center”>Listen
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</p>
School of Etiquette
This all-girl band from San Francisco provides an interesting blend of modern
indie pop with a tasty blend of early goth pop, ala The Cure and Joy Division
as if Sleater Kinney or PJ Harvey were more influenced by Siouxsie & The Banshees.
This approach relies on simple keyboard riffs and high, fading vocals best exemplified
in âIdentityâ. The influence of The Cure is best heard on âBack to Bedâ. This
is the song for which a QuickTime video is included on the CD. While the group
itself calls its own arrangements âdungeonyâ, there is such dance pop as âImaginaryâ
on the album which still evidences the underlying theme of a distinct beat and
early â80s influence. (3.5)
</p>
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</p>
Act Your Age
Moon Man Records
There was a time when singing songs in a group setting was as natural an entertainment
as watching the game or going to the movies. This was also a more active way
of entertaining than the passive entertainments that prevail today. The natural
enthusiasm and infectious joy of these Los Angeles high school special education
students will summon in the listener this innate desire to sing and be happy
as a result of it. It is probably this fact that has resulted in the therapeutic
success of involvement in this project for Michael Monaganâs class as well as
the commercial success of the recording and performing project. The Kids also
have really interesting perspectives in their schools, including the thoughtful
analysis of Fidel Castro in the Latin-flavored âTwo Faces on Fidelâ and the
celebratory non-vegan âLife Without The Cowâ. Shantel Brown stands out on this
album for singing âMiss Understoodâ and âValentineâs Dayâ. Here love song is
warm and natural, more authentic than many examples of the genre that one could
find on radio and in films. The spirited title track, like the rest, features
the Kids in chorus to a rock band of studio musicians, some of whom are also
teachers. The songs are an anthemic ode to the type of self-respect and Golden
Rule lifestyle we need more of out there. (4.5)
</p>
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</p>
The Ramblin’ Ambassadors
Avanti
In the spirit of Dick Dale, this is big beat guitar music with nods to surf
rock, Dave Alvin and Link Wray. This instrumental trio of twang-men is formed
around Huevos Rancheros guitarist Brent J. Cooper. This is recommended if you
like The Ventures (witness âHawgtiedâ), Ennio Morricone (witness âTheme from
âThe Ramblinâ Bastardsâ) or Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet. (3.5)
</p>
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</p>
Rocket from the Tombs
Rocket Redux
The band that gave birth to Pere Ubu and Dead Boys, â70s Cleveland rockers Rocket
from the Tombs here offers a reprise of a reprise. Material for this first-ever
studio album was taken from the collection of demos and live recordings that
made up The Day the Earth Met the Rocket from the Tombs (Glitterhouse,
2000). This means we have the first studio recordings of â30 Seconds over Tokyoâ
and âLife Stinksâ. These two Peter Laughner songs were originally done by Rocket
from the Tombs and only later by Pere Ubu. The group had already been together
for a summer tour before it decided to record these songs, now fully rehearsed,
with Richard Lloyd at his Manhattan EGB Studios. The group existed for less
than a year but was seminal and very important making this belated recording
an important moment in rock history. (4)
</p>
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</p>
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