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THE AFRIKA KORPS
Music to Kill By (Gulcher Records) $11
Julie Burchill, New Musical Express, 3 December 1977: "This merger of The Slickee Boys, The Gizmos, The Look, The Teenage Boys, O. Rex, and The Kaiser's Kittens has thrown up (how punky!) the best album of the year. Twenty-two (yes! 22!) songs about all the things that bother you--your complexion . . . your boys . . . your mental health . . . and your girls. Every gem is short and sweet . . . each one a nursery rhyme that's been sneaking looks at teen magazines . . . pure, unsullied, untouched by recording contract rock and roll. Every verse is a reprise, every song a chrous with a harmonious soundmix nothing like the usual Heavy Metal row most 'punks' employ. Despite their threats about slapping your pretty face and ripping your pretty lace, they're sweet kids. Real innocence always tries to be tough." Back in 1973, teenage fanzine writer Ken Highland first traveled from his small-town home in upstate New York to Brooklyn, New York, to jam with pen-pal Solomon Gruberger and his younger brother Jay in their living-room rock band O. Rex. Three years later, in early '76, Ken recorded the first infamous Gizmos EP in Bloomington, Indiana--and then joined the United States Marine Corps! Finding himself stationed in Maryland, near Washington, D.C., he quickly found his way into the burgeoning D.C. punk scene. He became friends with the Slickee Boys, and began writing songs on guard duty. Some of these became later Gizmos tunes, but the main project was a new band with the O. Rex brothers called The Afrika Korps. With help from Slickee Boys Kim Kane and Martha Hull, and the addition of multi-talented drummer Ken Kaiser, they recorded the music on this LP in the first few months of 1977. The recordings became free-for-all punk-rock "super sessions"--with various other Slickee Boys members, D.C. scenesters, rock writers, etc. joining in on the fun. The resulting LP still stands as one of the most spontaneous and least trendy things to come out of the early Amerikan punk scene. This CD includes the classick LP plus eight studio outtakes and four live tracks, and comes with a 16-page booklet featuring mostly unpublished photos and a detailed history of the Afrika Korps.

THE AFRIKA KORPS
Live at Cantone's 1977 (Gulcher Records) $11
All right! It's time to put on yer O. Rex T-shirt and stock up on non-diet sodas, 'cause Gulcher Records is bringin' y'all the legendary Afrika Korps LIVE!! in 1977 at Cantone's in Boss-Town, Massachusetts. Kenne Highland, Solomon Gruberger, Jay Gruberger, and Kenny Kaiser rip through a set of twenty tunes in front of an audience celebrating PFC Highland's marriage to Boston Groupie News editor Miss Lyn. From the Afrika Korps' Music To Kill By LP, the boys do "N.Y. Punk," "You're A Tease Baby," "I Want You Everyday," "Crazy Jill," "Ellen No," "Jailbait Janet," "Refrigerator Rappin'," "Juvenile Delinquent," "Make Her Know," and "Fox Lane." They also pull off killer version of Kenne's "Califawnia Gurls" and Solomon's "My Head's In '73," songs from the ultra-rare maxi-single by O. Rex (pre-A. Korps group with the Grubergers and Kenne). We also get to hear band versions of "Only Real People" and "Winner By Elimination," which would be recorded the following year as the Korps (no Afrika) by the duo of Kenne and Kenny. There's a never-recorded Solomon tune, "Slow And Easy," another of his horndog anthems. Slickee Boys vocalist Martha Hull, who appeared on Music To Kill By, shows up to sing the Yardbirds' "Heart Full Of Soul." And ex-Gizmo Rich Coffee does the lead vocal on a version of Kenne's Gizmos song "Amerika First." As a tribute to Kenne's new Boston hometown, they also perform songs by local faves Willie Loco Alexander ("Hit Her Wid De Axe," "At The Rat") and Thundertrain ("Hot For Teacher"). Yep, this is the real thing: punk without the pose, raw rockin' by dudes who were breathin' deep back when the air still vibrated with R&R. Rock on!

WILLIE ALEXANDER
Solo Loco Redux (Captain Trip Records; Japan) $12
Following the two badly produced LPs that Willie "Loco" Alexander and the Boom Boom Band did for MCA Records in the late 70s, Willie lost his band and eventually recorded this solo album in 1980/1981. With assistance from Ted St. Pierre on guitar, bass, and production, Willie recorded almost everything else himself. Walter Powers also plays bass on two tracks; Peter Drayton's on guitar for the Boom Boom-style "Eyes Are Crossed"; and there are three "band" tracks with Brad Hallen (bass), Chuck Myra (drums and pink noise), and Lord Manuel Smith (synthesizers). Instead of trying to merely reproduce his earlier sound by overdubbing, Willie used synthesizers and drum machines to reconfigure his bar-band ga-ga boogie into a Loco version of industrial/synth-pop/hiphop/post-punk R&R. By 1980, Willie was already a 15-year vet of the rock wars, having done time with the garage-rockin' Lost and the post-Reed Velvet Underground. But listen to the opener, "Hit and Run," as he utilizies rap techniques that most musicians his age wouldn't have even noiticed in '80/'81. Not that this was a take-no-prisoners revolution; most of the material here could easily be adapted to purely acoustic settings; Willie was still writing songs. One of the exceptions is "Up for This," a loose bit of mayhem that sounds like Suicide playing the Yardbirds. He does a version of "Be-Bop-A-Lula" that has a gleeful claustrophobia which permeates most of the album. There's also an acapella version of "Tennessee Waltz," and a boogie-woogie piano instrumental "Lux" named for boogie innovator Meade Lux Lewis. Solo Loco was originally released in 1981 on New Rose in France and Bomp in the U.S.; this CD is an expanded, remixed version of the original LP.

ALGEBRASSIERE
Bip Malentendu (Imvated; Belgium) CDR $9
Imvated catalog: "very christian rock. easily one of the best things i've heard in years. a 50 minutes soundcheck and one hiphop grand finale." Yeah right--ha-ha! This is free-rock clatter with loops and noise. Cool cover art.

ALLUN
Onussen (Bar La Muerte; Italy/One-Touch Recordings Monopolka; Russia) $12
Third CD by crazed, brilliant female band from Italy. If anything, this disc is even more intense than their earlier recordings. More than ever, Stefania's vocals sound like a woman speaking in unknown tongues, while all around her musical instruments and household objects implode in sympathy. Drums march, violin eeks, guitar roars, walls rattle, and chaos is a mighty beautiful thang.

?ALOS
Ricordi Indelebili (Bar La Muerte/Pre/Vida Loca; Italy) $12
Solo album by Stefania Pedretti of OvO and Allun. Released 2006.

BRUCE ANDERSON & DALE SOPHIEA
Strict (Family Vineyard) $12
Bruce and Dale, guitar and bass from MX-80, make what could almost be called an anti-MX album. No freight-train avant-rock and no obvious sarcasm, but Bruce still sounds like himself, even if it's usually a mellowed self. But not mellow like soft-headed. This is the MX-80 chill-out album, "ambient" and "drone" and all those non-rockin' approaches. But better, because it's much more knowing, and unafraid to veer outside any supposed boundaries. Like, there are passages much closer to Sonny Sharrock freakin' than Brian Eno nappin'. Besides Bruce's axe-mospherics and Dale's samples, bells, bass, etc, fellow MX-80/O-Type members Marc Weinstein (drums) and Jim Hrabetin (guitar) sit in on a few tracks. Essential listening for fans of the MX-80 crew.

JACOPO ANDREINI
Vs 900 Vol. 1 (Bar La Muerte/Burp Publications/MH Music; Italy) $12
Italian composer/multi-instrumentalist Jacopo Andreini used five different bands in five different Italian and U.S. cities to put together this excellent album celebrating and poking fun at various musical styles from the last hundred years: Satie, free jazz, musique concrete, brass bands, bossa nova, rock, etc. Andreini's tongue-in-cheek compositions and intense sax work share quite a bit with Anthony Braxton's music. There's also a nice Canterbury-like feel to some of the more "rock" things here.

ANGEL CORPUS CHRISTI
Accordion Pop, Vol. 1 (Gulcher Records) $10
Come on in. Sit down and have a cup o' sweet with Angel. This is uncut stuff from circa mid-80s--nothin' but accordion, no vocals, a little reverb, and I heard some whitegurl fingerpoppin' on "Beast of Burden." Yes, the Stones song. There's another one too: "As Tears Go By." But don't cry, even though this disc's mostly sadhappy in that special way Ms. Corpus Christi does so well. She also angel-kisses the soft white melodic underbelly of the Monkees ("I'm a Believer"), the Velvets ("Femme Fatale"), the Beatles together (only version of "Hey Jude" you ever need to hear) and apart ("Imagine" as part of a medley with yet another Stones tune, "You Can't Always Get What You Want"). Yes, it does sound good. Where else can you hear Santo & Johnny's "Sleep Walk," Roger Miller's "King of the Road," and the Beach Boys' "Surfer Girl" done to (non-)perfection as solo-accordion (non-)pop? Ponder that while I get myself another cup o' "T." Heh-heh. Plus: "To Know Him Is to Love Him" (Phil "We-Love-Him-No-Matter-What" Spector's Teddy Bears), "Love Me Tender" (do I have to say Elvis?), "Jennifer Juniper" (Donovan), "Downtown" (Pet Clark), "Singin' the Blues" (I'd like to dream that Angel's version was based on Black Oak's version of the Guy Mitchell/Marty Robbins hit), and more more more!!! This Gulcher CD of ACCORDION POP is a reissue of the 1985 cassette originally released by Stim Records. You should already know that Angel has been making records for the past 20+ years, and is a long-time associate of the legendary Hoosier/San Fran avant-rock combo MX-80. Her most recent album of new material, DIVINE HEALER, was released by Gulcher earlier in 2003. But you already know all that, right? Okay then, I'm gonna take a nap while I listen again to Angel pump away at "Denise" by Randy & the Rainbows (never mind Blondie's version).

ANGEL CORPUS CHRISTI
The 80's (Gulcher Records) $10
Originally self-released on CD in 1990, THE 80'S collects ten tracks recorded from 1984 to 1989 by accordion-pop anti-diva Angel Corpus Christi. This Gulcher reissue comes in a brand new package with hot Angel pix of 80's vintage. Four of the selections from THE 80'S originally appeared on I LOVE NEW YORK, a 12-inch released in 1985: Bernard Herrmann's theme for Martin Scorsese's TAXI DRIVER, complete with Travis Bickel's inner thoughts spoken by Angel; Richard Hell's "Blank Generation," featuring a rippin' solo from MX-80 guitarist Bruce Anderson; Suicide's Alan Vega sharing the vocals on a groovy cover of Suicide's "Dream Baby Dream"; and Lou Reed's "The Day John Kennedy Died." Songwriter Don Ciccone's "Never Too Late For Linda" was originally released on 1986's WAKE UP AND CRY 12-inch. From the same period (but unreleased till '90) is another cool Ciccone tune, "King Of Los Alamos." Ciccone plays guitar on both of his songs. The remaining tracks were all new to the 1990 CD. Written by Angel with hubby/MX-80 singer Rich Stim, "Way Out West" is a moody pop/rock ballad, like a really sparse Ray Davies thing circa '69. "John Cassavetes" is Angel's loving tribute to a deceased hero, and a real gem that should've been a big indie-rock hit 14 years ago. Rich Stim's "Hell" sounds like it could've been an MX-80 song, with all the deadpan humor of their best song stuff. And Angel adds her accordion-rock vision to a cover of the Alice Cooper anthem "18." MX-80 drummer Dave Mahoney plays on three of the tracks, and Rich Stim appears throughout playing guitar, bass, horn, etc. Besides accordion, Angel plays bass and keyboards. Plus contributions from Dean Leto and Dave Wellhausen.

ANGEL CORPUS CHRISTI
Divine Healer (Gulcher Records) $10
For the past twenty years or so, singer-songwriter-accordionist Angel Corpus Christi has been producing her unique sad-funny avant-pop sounds in San Francisco. Angel (a.k.a. Andrea Ross) and collaborator-husband Rich Stim moved from Bloomington, Indiana, to S.F. in 1978, along with Rich's band MX-80 Sound. Angel has contributed lyrics to various MX-80 projects since the late 70s. And MX-80's Dave Mahoney shows up as drummer on Divine Healer. This is Angel's first full-length release since her sadly overlooked major-label disc in 1995, White Courtesy Phone (on Herb Alpert's Almo label). The core band of Angel (vocals, accordion, harmonica), Rich Stim (guitar, bass, piano), Dave Mahoney (drums), and George Earth (guitar, bass) is augmented by contributions from songwriter Don Ciccone, Dean Wareham (Galaxie 500 and Luna), bass player Nancy Kravitz, and behind the mixing board, Craig Leon (Ramones, Blondie, etc.), Mark Bingham (MX-80, Social Climbers, etc.), and Dave Nelson. A couple Angel faves are resurrected for all the ears who missed 'em the first time: "Pull Girl" is a tasty piece of mutant bubblegum, like Veronica Lodge fronting Suicide, and "Candy" is even sweeter. The Ross/Stim songwriting team also give us "You," "Rock & Roll Shoes," "Sadder," "Sleepwalker," and with help from Don Ciccone, "I'll Say Goodbye" and "She Said." Another MX-80 connection is made with a version of Bruce Anderson's "Clown Sex," proving this Angel don't need no lyrics to fly. Also covered are "Eve of Destruction" (P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri/Barry McGuire), "Hurdy Gurdy Man" (Donovan), "Home Sweet Home" (Motley Crue!?), "I Want Everything" (original by Angel collaborator Dean Wareham's band Luna), and "Brown Wheat" (Friedman and Recht/El Destroyo). Tasty stuff for healing hearts and caved-in brains.

ANGEL CORPUS CHRISTI
Louie Louie (Gulcher Records) $10
On this 2005 disc by Ms. CC, the anti-diva offers up "12 songs by for and about Lou Reed," done in her now classic accordion-pumpin' downer-pop style. Hubby Rich Stim (MX-80) also performs throughout, and there are guest appearances by Sonic Boom and Dean Wareham. For Lou: another boss version of Richard Berry's "Louie Louie." About Lou: "Lou Reed's Hair" (written by Angel and Rich). By Lou: "Caroline Says II," "Tell It to Your Heart," "She's My Best Friend," "Disco Mystic," "Banging On My Drum," "I Want to Boogie With You" (in a medley with Serge Gainsbourg's "Je T'aime"), "Femme Fatale," "Rock and Roll Heart," "The Day John Kennedy Died," and "I'm Set Free."

LUIGI ARCHETTI
Cubic Yellow (Captain Trip Records; Japan) $12
Swiss guitarist Archetti (from Mani Neumeier's Tiere Der Nacht) and collaborator Hubl G come up with 14 short pieces of groove, thrum, and improv that touch on Krautrock, "serious" Euro improv, dub, noise, hiphop, and anything else they can think to do. Recorded 1997-1999. Featuring Cluster-man Moebius's synth work on a couple of tracks.

ARMPIT
Mano O Mano (Rhizome; Australia) CDR $12
Rhizome catalog: "The return of the endless nameless ever-dissolving rock experience. CJA and Sugar Jon have spent the past decade treating rock as malleable material; from the post-Dead C. sprawl of early cassettes, the aesthetic-defining 'Sun's Movement Across Darkening Skies' 7", and the subsequent Rubik's Cubes of trashed, defiled instruments ('Thee Praying Mantis', 'Butta Daze', etc.) - the Armpit world is hermetic, cloaked, 'full of' absence and disappearance. Containing recordings that date back over half a decade, 'Mano O Mano' was touched up in recent times, and is one of many 'apexes' of this outfit's singular and indefinable (non-)rock output. The first Rhizome transmission from the Armpit heart..."

THE BACKSTABBERS
To Eleven (Dead Beat Records) $7

BAD GIRLS
Unauthorized Recordings (Public Eyesore) CDR $9
Public Eyesore catalog: "Unauthorized Recordings is the collected recordings from a series of improvisational sessions between Mike Khoury (Entropy Stereo. violin), Ben Bracken(Flashpapr. guitar, organ), and Michigan experimenter Wade Kergan. A widely varying series of unsettling recordings from eerie electronic pieces to crunchy minimalism to dizzying start/stop interplays approaching free jazz."

BIG WHISKEY
The Bloated Museum of Treachery (Warm Freedom of Tongue) $8
Seven pieces of outside-rock in just over an hour. Don Rettman (guitars/electronics/stuff) and Dave Bryson (drums/percussion) make a big ol' sound that grooves noisily for awhile, and then surges in search of another groove for awhile, and lets the guitar feedback for a 'nother little while, and then does something else. Hypnotic and noisy. I dig that most of it has all this distorted guitar and shit on top of drumming that's in-the-pocket like a Krautrocker lost in a 'shroom-trance. And when the drummer doesfly, we're also confronted by thick walls of guitar feedback that still keep the feel of the groove alive. This CD is a perfect example of what folks can do once they "discover" the "secret" of music is simple: rhythm + sound = music. Infinite arrangements are then wonderfully possible.

MIKE BLACK
Go/No (no label) $9
Press release: "Mike Black challenged himself to record and release an album in one month's time, the result is GO/NO-GO, a series of electronic songs, tone poems and soundscapes, recorded live at his home studio. The release is a DIY CD, Mike playing, recording, producing, artwork, all of it done by him. GO/NO-GO music has already been picked up by TROMA Films, played on XM Radio, and many terrestrial and internet stations. Bands: Mike has played with: Exotic Pet, Hat Trick of Misery, Robert Fripp and the League of Crafty Guitarists. On Guitar Craft: Mike has also been involved with Guitar Craft, the ongoing series of courses that originated when Robert Fripp, founding member of King Crimson, began GC courses at Claymont Court in West Virginia. GC began in 1985, and Mike participated in many courses between 1986-2000. One aspect of GC is the management of surprise, for example, the participants on a course are regularly challenged to compose music for live shows, often on a days [or less] notice. Much of the motivation and aim of GO/NO-GO was inspired by the work of Guitar Craft."

BLUE CHEER
Highlights and Lowlives (Captain Trip Records; Japan) $14
Dickie Peterson, Paul Whaley, and Andrew Duck MacDonald recorded 1990 at a studio in Wales. Released 2003.

BLUE COLLAR
Lovely Hazel (Public Eyesore) $10
"Instant composition" from the NYC trio of Nate Wooley (trumpet, flugelhorn, voice), Steve Swell (trombone, voice), and Tatsuya Nakatani (percussion).

BLUE PINE (Global Symphonic; Canada) $10
Canadian band that evolved into Frog Eyes.

THE B-MOVIE RATS
Killer Woman (Dead Beat Records) $7

THE B-MOVIE RATS / THE HELL BENDERS (split)
Distilled (Dead Beat Records) $7

BO-BO (Carbon Records) CDR $8
Carbon Recs catalog: "Bo-Bo is Alex of Hilkka making noise and having fun constructing tracks from fragments of glitch, samples, and bass lines. . . . Limited edition of 50, hand-packaged with chrome silver labels on CD, enclosed in a clear clam-shell CD case." Uh-huh! Bliphop, noise precision, slice/dice, cut/paste, time lag, dogs and birds, acoustic guitar interlude, loops and drops. I like.

THOMAS BORGMANN/WILBER MORRIS/DENIS CHARLES
Organic (The Lotus Sound) $9
Heaviness from three musicians riding different crests of the free-jazz wave, reveling in the moment at a show recorded in Germany, 1997. The great drummer Denis Charles played with Cecil Taylor and Archie Shepp in the 60s; Morris (bass) has done time with later free-jazz eccentrics Arthur Doyle and Frank Lowe; and I don't know saxophonist Borgmann's background (he's the blonde guy). The playing is relaxed, confident but searching. Morris is subtle and fluid, with Charles' explosions breaking things up. Somewhere in the middle, Borgmann demonstrates his European precision while yearning for the spiritual release of Ayler and Coltrane. And not a single indie-rock sideman in sight!

DANIELE BRUSASCHETTO
Poesia Totale Dei Muscoli (Bar La Muerte; Italy) $12
Solo CD by Italian singer-songwriter known for his work in the early 90s with outside-rock combos Mudcake and Whip, as well as co-producing My Cat Is An Alien. The songs here are all in Italian (with English translations included in the booklet), generally delivered in a casual "folk"-like manner, but with full rock-band backing. There are some nice detours into noise and minimal-like groove. Quality sounds. Dig.

BUGSKULL
Snakland (Scratch Records; Canada) $10

BUGSKULL & THE BIG WHITE CLOUD (Scratch Records; Canada) $10
Sound-based exploration and spacescape by Sean Byrne (Bugskull) and Phil Quistlund (ex-Sone).

BUGO
Sentimento Westernato (Bar La Muerte; Italy) $12
Excellent 2001 album by Italian avant-folk-rocker Bugo. It's all in Italian, with no translation, but don't let that distract your ears. The band numbers are especially pleasing--loose, fugged-up folk-blues with spazzy guitars and kinda funny vocals--like Dylan backed by the Holy Modal Rounders instead of the Band--the same sorta cracked-up fallin'-down blooz done so well by Half Japanese and Mosquito. Except Bugo is popular in Italy--the overload-distorto fuzz-riffer "Benzina Mia" was a hit in his home country!

BURNT HILLS
To Your Head (Flipped Out Records) $10
Flipped Out catalog: "Manic, frantic, buzzed and burnt, listen closely as this nine piece releases a tidal wave of freaked basement atmosphere filled with unhinged riffs, squalling feedback, bedrock bottom end, and pounding pulse."

BZ BZ UEU
Uhozmerigotz (Music à la Coque/Wallace Records; Italy) CD EP $9
Energized avant-rock and free-jazz-isms on this excellent second CD from Italy's Bz Bz Ueu, recorded in late 1999. Horns squawk, guitar wiggles, and rhythm section moves with ease from highly structured angle chasin' to skronky breakdowns. Diggers of early MX-80 should feel right at home.

EUGENE CHADBOURNE
Jungle Cookies (Old Gold) 2CD $14
Wow. After 25 years or so, you'd think a new Chadbourne album, no matter how good, would yield few surprises. But this here thing does not sound like other releases I've heard by E.C. Inspired by trips to Amsterdam, and an idea "ripped off" from Derek Bailey, Dr. Chadbourne has brewed up a dense, delicious, highly tweaked soup of Amsterdam street sounds weaving in and out of various Chadbourne performances. Listen as Eugene jams along with live music leaking from a local bar. Which is which is what? Young Molly Chadbourne has her vocalizing used for dad's big wonderful mess; Jimmy Carl Black and Lenny Kaye make guest appearances; Otto the dachshund is trapped inside a large box of toy drum machines; drug dealers hawk their wares; a visit to the Pink Floyd "coffee"shop is celebrated with a damaged cover of "See Emily Play"; etc., etc. Lots of exciting sounds to try and comprehend. Or not. Comes in a fab home-style package, and includes a booklet with detailed notes by Chadbourne.

CHARLIE PARKER (Old Gold) CDR $7
Old Gold catalog: "All these pieces were recorded live around the Big Peach including their funky cut from the Ice Cream Festival, and much mayhem from the much-missed Moreland Avenue Tavern. Two electric basses, one drummer, multiple horns and no known destination. comes in spray painted jewel case with sporadic information." This is the Atlanta-based noise-jazz-improv group, not the dead bop musician.

CHINABOISE
The Greatest Story Ever Told (Gulcher Records) $11
Back at the dawn of No Future, before mid-70s boredom turned into late-70s hate, Rich Stim and Dave Mahoney were two young guys living in a trailer park. This trailer park was located in the small college town of Bloomington, Indiana. Rich was a newspaper writer by profession (obituaries and music reviews), but he longed to be a musician. He could play sax, bass, guitar, and other assorted instruments. Dave was a drummer, who even did gigs with a local country band. They both sang. In 1975, they began working up a batch of songs composed by Rich. They called their project Chinaboise. In the very same trailer park lived Rich Fish, who soon moved into a house where he built a tiny studio in an empty bedroom (the teenage Gizmos would record there in '76 and '77). Rich Stim and Dave Mahoney soon joined their former neighbor in his home studio, where Chinaboise recorded a handful of tracks over a few months in '75. Stim asked guitarist Bruce Anderson to join them in the studio for a few songs. Bruce was invited because he was the driving force behind MX-80 Sound, the high-energy avant combo who Stim considered local gods. It turned out Bruce had been thinking about moving MX-80 Sound closer to rock music, and the Chinaboise duo would join MX-80 to record the classic BIG HITS EP in 1976. But back in '75, things were still kinda like the early 70s, and that's nowhere more evident than on this new Gulcher CD of Chinaboise music. If MX-80 '76 is like a pissed-off art punk finally lashing out, Chinaboise '75 is the punk's older boho brother smirking cynically and blowin' his horn. "The Greatest Story Ever Told" was released on the BLOOMINGTON 1 comp LP (BRBQ Records '75), but none of the other Chinaboise material ever came out officially. Well, Rich says they "handed out cassettes to some people in town." "The Greatest Story Ever Told" is a great track. Stim's deadpan vocal and lyric combine with Bruce's jagged avant-metal guitar and Dave's drumming to sound not unlike the "new" MX-80 Sound of '76. Except this also has female vocals by Carolyn Boner and Kim Torgerson (who took photos of MX-80 over the years). Bruce Anderson also appears on the ever timely oil-crisis ditty "Living On Oil," the angular MX-80-like "Take Two," and "Self-Conscious Pisser" (vocal by Steve Hoy). The latter would soon become an MX-80 instrumental called "SCP." There's also an early version of MX-80's "Myonga Von Bontee," done here as a sax-and-drums duet by Rich and Dave. "Partners In A Crime" was also re-arranged as an MX-80 song; the version here features vocals by Stim, Dave, and Rich Fish, with only piano accompaniment. There are a few tunes dominated by a sort of (pseudo-)beatnik campfire vibe--just Rich and Dave interacting like the doob's been passed for awhile. "Girl You Got It (So Go Get It)" and "Demons In The Lone Star State" both feature Rich on recorder! "Sodium Nitrate" is filled with back-and-forth hepster dialogue plus bebop sax. "Caught Between Dreams" moves the action to a jazzy little tavern just down the street. "Working Girl" has Stim's typical workaday lyrics turned inside out from the woman's point of view, with a lovely vocal by Holly Thomison. "Dear Tears" has a similar feel, with Kim Torgerson singing. These two tracks remind me of Stim's work in the 80s with Angel Corpus Christi (Mrs. Stim). The most surprising sounds here are two tracks of spoken-word humor done in the Firesign Theatre style. "Breakfast At The Gables" has Rich Stim, Rich Fish, and Carolyn Boner doing a mock morning radio show, complete with sound effects and fake commercials. "In The Sahara" has Stim as a bad stand-up comedian, Carolyn and Kim as drunk audience members, Fish as announcer and a drunk, and drummer Brad Fox providing rimshots for Stim's jokes. Yep, this is a weird one, Gulcher mulchers--lots of DIY fun, interesting musical approaches, and underground history in the making. The CD package includes cool early pix of the MX-80 boys and the rest of the crew, as well as an interview with Rich Stim.

LUKE CINCOTTA
Every Second/Estimation (Carbon Records) CDR $8
Carbon catalog: "39 tracks of sheer unadulterated teenage and post-teenage boredom! Every Second has been in the works for some time now. It compiles a lot of old sound sample from tapes that have been sitting around my room for some time. Some tracks are stolen from an unfinished project that was produced by my older brother Zach Cincotta. Every Second really sums up my early days of making long tapes of sounds and anguish in my parents basement. I was the only kid in high school that owned a Merzbow t-shirt ? everyone was so jealous! Estimation has been sitting on my hard drive for sometime now. It compiles a lo-key project I thought of while in college. I wanted to make sounds with only my mouth and a microphone. A few television and other sounds managed to get in there too. This really shows my complete boredom in college. One track has the sounds of my idiotic roommates, talking about god knows what. I was the only person in college that owned a Francisco Lopez t-shirt ? everyone was so jealous! Biography: Luke Cincotta, born May 20, 1980 Born in MI, moved to Lawrenceville, GA (30 minutes from both Atlanta and Athens) when I was one year old and haven't left since. Went to Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, GA (the middle of nowhere--former capital of Georgia) for four years. I am now currently employed as a special education resource teacher for Gwinnett County Public Schools in Georgia. I work with fourth and fifth grade kids with everything from emotional, learning and attention disabilities. It has to be the best job I have ever had, except for that summer I worked in the toy department of Wal-Mart. That was great! I have been secretly making this music in my basement since I was fifteen. I think its time for it to see civilization. Finally mastered on 4.27.03 [packaged in hand spray/splatter-painted cardboard folders. edition of 75]"

CLUB OFF CHAOS
The Change of the Century (Funfundvierzig; Germany) $12
Third album by electro trance trio with drummer Jaki Liebezeit (Can, Phantom Band) joining programmers Dirk Herweg (strings) and Boris Polonski (synthesizer).

COCK E.S.P.
Greatest Dicks II (Carbon Records/Breathmint/DeathBomb Arc/Little Mafia/Sunship/Yelpco) $9
"The best and worst of Cock E.S.P. 1997-2000". Edition of 500.

COFFEE
Dik Mik Rabbit Ear Antennae (Carbon Records) CDR $8
One hour of super sounds from Rochester's favorite not-jazz group. Recorded in 1997 with Tim Poland, Dave Cross, Phil Marshal, and Brian Shaffer; and in 1998 with Tim Poland, Dave Cross, Sticky Foster, Neil Campbell, Nuuj, and John Olson. Sixth in Carbon's 10th anniversay CDR series. Released 2004.

CRAWLSPACE
Sphereality (Sympathy for the Record Industry) $10
1992 CD financed by the Sympathy empire and insanely recorded live at a 24-track studio over two tense days. Byron Coley, Forced Exposure: " . . . loose, juiced, brilliant acid-mumble-sprawl by the west coat's kings of lost chordage. Allowed 66 minutes to roam the walls at will, Crawlspace conjure up a world where twang = drone = fuzz = bup, and the look of everything melting is as natural as an un-de-fleeced pubis." David Sprague, Request: "Not since the heyday of ESP Records has head music been pushed to the glorious extremes Flowers' crew reaches. Those who've dreamed of a Can/Stooges jam session should consider the members of this formidable quintet their Prince Charmings." Yvonne Garrett, Rip: " . . . Crawlspace aren't easily accessible. Their music is more likely to consume the listener with its meandering guitars leading into walls of sound. . . . [Eddie's] lyrics have a warped but strong poetry to them. . . . Drop one or two and turn it up." With Eddie Flowers, Joe Dean, Mark McCormick, Keith Telligman, and Bob Lee.

CRAWLSPACE
¿Et II Bluto? (The Lotus Sound) $10
1997 album with an expanded collective-improv 'Space that included these musicians in various combinations: Eddie Flowers, Joe Dean, Mark McCormick, Allen Clark, Dave Fontana, Greg Hajic, Keith Telligman, Todd Homer, Larry Robinson, and Paul Fontana. Edwin Pouncy, Top Magazine: "This latest selection from the Californian band is a gorgeous, multi-coloured blend of disharmony and psyched-out cacophony." Tony Rettman, 200 Lb. Underground: "The even mix of insane lucidness and focused flow conveys the ups, downs, and above middles of a trip in the same way the Dead's Anthem of the Sun did." Bruce Cole of the Screamin' Mee-Mees: "¿Et II Bluto? sounds so cock, it's bogus!"

CRAWLSPACE
Dogs Begin to Crawl, Snakes Begin to Howl (Slippy Town) CDR $9
The long-awaited songs'n'sounds follow-up to Crawlspace's ¿Et II Bluto? CD from 1997. Acoustic-dominated rock songs, swangin' noise, electric-guitar stumble'n'scratch, band jams, funny voices, minimal mockery, and the end of time as we know it. 2000 + 1, remember? Released November 2000. Recorded 1994-2000. Edition of 333 copies. With Eddie Flowers, Joe Dean, Greg Hajic, Mark McCormick, Dave Fontana, Allen Clark, and Remora (Ian Middleton).

CRAWLSPACE
The Roaring Winds of Louie Louie (Carbon Records) CDR $8
Today's Whether Report: eye o' the storm's movin' right up 'tween sleepwalk 'Space & static comin' in from the Slowdown. Acoustic guitars, percussion, ambient mics, turntable, CD player, blank tape, mixing board, graphic EQ, guitar amp, radio, video, & mac. Edition of 100 in recycled LP-cover packages handmade by Carbon Recs dude Joe Tunis. Performed and assembled by Eddie Flowers, Greg Hajic, and Joe Dean. Released 2001.

CRAWLSPACE
Law Where Prohibited By Void (Gulcher Records) $10
Deep beneath the surfaces of the so-called real world, located somewhere in the southern Republic of Kalifornia, the three boy-men called Crawlspace assemble their sounds in the Slippy Town Lifestyle Studio. This is the trio's latest public offering: a CD entitled Law Where Prohibited By Void, released by Gulcher Records. What's happening in Slippy Town? Rockin' in the toy box--plastic shiny shells with tiny digital memories of licks by Hendrix and Page--but also got them ol' fashion amps and guitars and stuff--fried boogie, flyin' fancies, rock trance, out grooves, blues power. Invasion of the B gurlz--'lectronic wheeze 'n free clattering sneeze--records and VHS loopin' while the big bass waddles like a sleepy duck. Themes from unsold 1960s cartoon pilots stacked in a corner next to Terry Riley's unreleased remix of Maggot Brain--explodin' into psychodelic noir and free-jazzin' seed-poppin' ganja huffs--ridin' the train back to your third childhood. Doo-wop streetlights from Mama Saturn flash into droning patterns and stuck-groove memories of KDAY (80s L.A. hiphop), KAAY (70s Southern hippie), and the rhythmic South-of-border end-of-dial shiftin' ever outward. All peace to the whirlin' scratchy presence of the late great Mr. John Lee Hooker--sometimes even one chord is too many. And then comes the whiteboy doper blooze: Sabbath's "Into The Void" reconfigured as semi-acoustic folk-jazz hoodoo hoedown. But there ain't no law nowhere--that's an illusion of humanity--nature still runs free. Yep. With 15 tracks and a total running time of 76 minutes, this is the first manufactured 'Space release since 1997's ¿Et II Bluto? CD (with many, many CDR and cassette releases in between). Rock on, y'all. With Eddie Flowers, Greg Hajic, and Joe Dean. Released 2003.

CRAWLSPACE
Melbourne Cabbage Ratio (Carbon Records) CDR $8
Shattered clattering free-rock, noise, and loops from Crawlspace surrounded by snippets from old-time radio, kartoons, and a bonus track of "found" 78-RPM humor (pardon our flatulence). This is where Crawlspace starts diggin' on premature senility--and stops caring about your record collection. It's also the fifth release in Carbon's tenth anniversary CDR series (right on, Joe Tunis!). Yeah, we think this is a good one. Released 2004.

CRAWLSPACE
The Spirit of '76 (Gulcher Records) $11

Take me back. Yeah, take me back. Take me back to where I once beee-longed. (Elvis version of the Fab 4.) Git back juju. Man, I always hated "retro"--although I always loved "roots." What's the diff? Who knows, and who cares! After 15 years or so in the outer regions, the Crawlspace mamaship has touched down on solid rock again. Start wigglin' yer toes in mud and rollin' rugs off the floor. What am I saying here, brothers and sisters? I'm saying . . . LET'S ROCK!

Out in Slippy Town, Republic of California, they got rock and revolution on their minds. R&R circa 1950-1976 (but time is an illusion). Revolution coz yeah, war still sux and racism still sux. But this is revolution thru tokin' and dancin'--not the kinda bad-vibe methods that W.'s cabal is using to fug up the whole party. What follows is the Crawlspace 13-point program, collectively known as THE SPIRIT OF '76:

1. "Theme For A Wet T-Shirt Contest" -- The boys in the band jam out an instrumental intro in honor of perky nipples 'n plump-dimpled butts. This ain't sexism, sisters, it's bowing before the holy twat.

2. "Califawnia Gurls" -- Original version was from 1976 by the Brooklyn trio called O. Rex (with upstate NY dude and Gizmos founder Ken Highland). Hey gals, if you refuse it, you just might lose it! Keep them snappers from snappin' too hard!

3. "Just Seventeen" -- Heavy Raiders tune from their "hip" 1970 album COLLAGE. Crawlspace will now paraphrase the prophet John Waters: "If there's hair, it's fair!" How many puritans does it take to screw in a light bulb? Nobody knows, because puritans won't admit they screw.

4. "Hey Joe (Version Version)" -- Mutation in action: Patti Smith's "Sixty Days" intro to her "Hey Joe (Version)" '74 single + the Arthur Lee/Love arrangement '66 = Crawlspace breathin' in some folk-rockin' air. The message is pretty muddled here, but yes, there is anti-Iraq War rhetoric improvised towards the end. I mean, really, man, can you BELIEVE the 21st century so far?!

5. "Fight For Liberation" -- Crawlspace stands for rock first, but we're also lefties somewhere down the line. Yes, art always outweighs politics, but sometimes they get all tangled up in a way that works. One of the best examples of that is Patrick Sky's 1973 album SONGS THAT MADE AMERICA FAMOUS. The original of this song was the opening track. It has a "message"--it's not very subtle--it sez look at the world from the bottom up. It's also funny!

6. "Take Your War On Vacation" -- This is our own personal rockin' take on the current insanity. Our philosophy of life: hey man, let's all just get stoned and forget about it--but if you just can't let it go, puh-leeze attack the right people and leave the rest of us alone! Can't we all just get along? Won't you please pass the bong?

7. "Leavin' Here" -- And if we can't find no peace, we might just gotta be gettin' outta here again! Where's my space suit? We based our version of Eddie Holland's "Leavin' Here" on the 1965 cover version by Ron Wood's mod band the Birds.

8. "Space Truckin'" -- Riff! Riff! Bang! Bang-a-bang! Whoosh! We take Deep Purple's 1972 classic and throw it in the furnace of our homemade UFO. Here we go again! Rrrrrrrrrroooooaarrrrrr!

9. "Rat Fink" -- From Allan Sherman's immortal album MY SON, THE NUT (1963). Crawlspace turns Sherman's version of "Rag Mop" into a stoned skunkabilly anthem. Everybody sing along: "R - A - T - T F - I - N - K! Rat fink! Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah!" The political ramifications of this track are open to debate.

10. "Never Never" -- When will we stop rockin'? The title sez it all! Git on board the rocket ship now! This is the third and final Crawlspace original here.

11. "Chemicals In The Mail" -- The spirit of . . . '78? That's the year the original of this killer was released by the C*nts. It's another song with a strong message: "I just turn the channels till I get chemicals in the mail."

12. "Erotic Neurotic" -- An abbreviated version of a long punk-rock song from 1977 by the Saints, quite possibly the best so-called punk-rock band that ever existed. So sayeth the mighty author of these words!

13. "Sympathy For The Devil" -- What can be said? Good and evil are illusions of the human brain. But if forced to choose, rock'n'roll must choose Lucifer. How'd the Horned One get such a bad rep anyway? This tune, of course, is the opening track from the best album (released '68) by the world's eleventh greatest R&R band. Yes, music fans, the beginning of this track is a jam coming out of a Roky Erickson song ("Children nailed to the cross!"), but we won't tell you which one! As for the end of the track, yes, there is something wrong with your stereo--impatient punks can simply turn it off, hippie rockers can pack another bowl and groove on . . . and on.

Crawlspace is Eddie Flowers, Greg Hajic, and Joe Dean. Robin Lehman plays synthesizer on "Space Truckin'." Front cover painting by Krazee Ken Highland, circa 1973. Released 2006.

CRAWLSPACE
Crawlspace Rears Its Lovely Head, Motherfuckers! (Cauliflower Dreams; Belgium) CDR $9
Is this the "last" Crawlspace "noise" release? Hmm? There are two long tracks recorded and/or mixed during our last spurt of improvised racket and abstract experimentation. "Rears Its Lovely Head," recorded in 2003, is one of our most controlled free pieces: synthesizers, loops, and other stuff moving along in random ways but mapped out and mixed with care. On the other hand, "Without an Umbrella" is a storm of guitars, drums, and tons of other crap recorded back in 1997-1999--but mixed in early 2004. It's an ugly onslaught of layered chaos that even we couldn't totally sort out afterwards. This release is limited to 100 copies. With Eddie Flowers, Greg Hajic, and Joe Dean. Released 2007.