CDs for Sale D

SLIPPY TOWN
This Week's Update

CRAWLSPACE
Crawlspace Biography
Discography & Mail Order

THE GIZMOS
Bio, Photos, & Press
1970s Reviews
Gizmos Fave Raves '76
Comix by Ken Highland
Pre-Giz Pix (etc.)

HOME / SLIPPY TOWN TIMES

Except where noted, all original text & art ©2008 Eddie Flowers
16473 McKeever Street
Granada Hills CA 91344
USA

CDs FOR SALE (D - K)
THESE COMPACT DISCS ARE NEW AND UNPLAYED

FOR ORDERS WITHIN THE U.S.:
PayPal to slippytown@earthlink.net

Or you can send a U.S. Postal Service money order (only!) payable to:
Eddie Flowers
16473 McKeever Street
Granada Hills CA 91344

U.S. SHIPPING CHARGES:
$3.00 for one CD or 7" VINYL (First Class Mail).
$5.00 for one CD or 7" VINYL (Priority Class Mail).
$4.00 for one 12" VINYL (Media Mail).
$10.00 for one 12" VINYL (Priority Mail).

For other items or bigger orders, contact me first:

If you want insurance, add $1.65 (up to $50), $2.05 ($50.01-$100),
$2.45 ($100.01-$200), $4.60 ($200.01-$300), $5.50 ($300.01-$400).

FOREIGN ORDERS -- PLEASE CONTACT ME BEFORE SENDING PAYMENT:

DANBALL BAT / SASORI (split)
Sasori Vs Danball Bat--Sasori Cocktail (Captain Trip Records; Japan) $12
1997 split CD by two contemporary Japanese rock bands. Sasori is a female-led psych-heavy-garage group. Danball Bat do an odd sort of glam-prog-pop thing.

THE DANCING CIGARETTES
1980-1981: The Gulcher Recordings (Gulcher Records) $11
In 1980-1981, punk became hardcore, middle-aged women started spiking their hair, new wave turned into commercial crap, and everything was about to implode into the narrowly focused genres that dominate outsider music to this day. But in Bloomington, Indiana, things were moving a bit slower. MX-80 Sound had split for San Francisco a couple years earlier, and the original Gizmos were never more than a rumor to the post-'77 Bloomington crowd. When the Dancing Cigarettes appeared on the fringes of the Bloomington scene in 1980, they were doing music that still vibrated deeply with the naive/intellectual spirit that had informed much of underground rock since the mid-70s. The Cigarettes fused their high-school geek visions of dada and beat literature with punk energy, the Ralph Records catalog, an obvious love for pre-punk icons like Eno and Beefheart, and the fumes of earlier art-damaged Midwestern bands like MX-80, Pere Ubu, and Tin Huey. Their songs were tight, angular, ironic, and filled with obtuse lyrics. In 1981, the Dancing Cigarettes hooked up with Gulcher Records (who else!) to produce a quite wunnerful 4-song, self-titled EP: "Puppies In A Sack," "Mr. Morse," "Pop Doormat," and "Best Friend." Post-punk, Midwest-style (which means it's mostly pre-punk!). They also contributed to Gulcher's Red Snerts compilation LP the same year. This CD collects their '81 EP, two outtakes from the EP sessions, "Broken Windows" from RED SNERTS, and 15 unreleased tracks recorded live at the Bluebird in Bloomington. The Bluebird material shows the live Dancing Cigarettes were just as fiery and capable of sonic trickery as in a studio setting, and adds a bit of noise to the mix. The band continued into 1983, and recorded a fair amount of excellent unreleased material, which was compiled in 1995 on their School of Secret Music CD.

DAVIDTIO
Kin-Kaku (Captain Trip Records; Japan) $12
2002 CD by Velvet Underground-influenced pop-rock band from Japan.

THE DEVIANTS
Dr. Crow (Captain Trip Records; Japan) $12
2004 CD by Mick Farren, Andy Colquhoun, and company. Includes "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Bela Lugosi 2002," "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," and nine more tracks.

DEVOLVER
The Pilot's Inside His Mind (Transsiberian Music Co./Scratch Recordings; Canada) $11
Very down, sometimes claustrophobic folkpop songstuff from four-piece Canadian band. They spice up the structured format with dirty loops, low-hum noise, and untampered glitches.

DMZ
Live at the Rat (Bomp) $10
Seven totally killer tracks from 1976 + twelve tracks from a pretty cool 1993 reunion show.

DUNKELZIFFER
In the Night (Fünfundvierzig; Germany) $14
Originally released in 1984, this was the second album by German "mystic group" Dunkelziffer, and their first with former Can vocalist Damo Suzuki.

DUNKELZIFFER
Live (Captain Trip Records; Japan) $14
Previously unreleased live recording from 1985 by German band with Can's Damo Suzuki on vocals.

DUNKELZIFFER
Colours and Soul (Funfundvierzig; Germany) $14
Early recordings, from 1982 and 1983, including Dunkelziffer's first EP and assorted outtakes. This German new-wave ethno-trance band would be joined by Can vocalist Damo Suzuki in '84, but this was before his arrival. The group does include later Can member Reebop Kwaku Baah, and
a guest appearance by Can drummer Jaki Liebezeit.

DUO KANEL
Livsopplevende Dikt (Humbug; Norway) CDR $11
Duo Kanel is Sindre Andersen and Ansten Klev, who produce a giddy noise-pop-glitch-rock-improv sound. The sudden transitions from damaged radio excerpts to disjointed "songs" to live interplay to plain silliness produces a collage effect that seems like an early-70s concept album strained through thirty years of used cassette tapes and ear wax. But not really. I like. Comes in a handmade package with painted cover and various inserts, including hand-scrawled art, sticker, bits cut from magazines, etc.

EARZUMBA
Simulando Un Refugio (Old Gold) $10
Earzumba is the current a.k.a. of Christian Dergarabedian, formerly with the amazing Argentine free-rock combo Reynols. Now located in Barcelona, Spain, Christian has put together an ear-melting disc of outer-regional sound sculptures and atmospheres. Can you see the sound? Hover surge drone flow groove scatter. Electronics and organ and some guitar and somewhere a hidden voice. Did you hear the wind? Riiiiiiddddeeeeee yooooooooooooo ooooooo-oooooo eeee-eeeeeeeeeee-eeee! Crickets? Drill your concrete deep, dispose of the blue prints, let go. A surge of intense chaos--the real world leakin' in everywhere at once as layers of found sound bury you in life. Hey, this is a beauty--no rhyme or reason BUT no death or gore neither--right here in bad old 2005--how'd that happen? Happen?

ESCAPADE
But Distractions About (Submergence) $10
2006 disc by Hadley Kahn and company.

FALCOXI (Imvated; Belgium) CDR $9
Imvated catalog: "Witcyst and friends do popmusic at his best... 3 guys. one mixer. typical New Zealand detuned feedback trash."

MERRELL FANKHAUSER
Goin' Back to Delta (Captain Trip Records; Japan) $14
2000 release by ex-Mu Merrell with Ed Cassidy (Spirit), John McEuen, and Pete Sears among the players.

MARC FARIS
Drone-On This; Or, Why the "New Minimalism" Is Underground Rock's Biggest Lie (Carbon Records) CDR $8
SQ member Marc F's wise-ass "statement" of something or other is simultaneously tasty and conceptual. He includes a cover of Lou Reed's "Satellite of Love" done up like John Cale in an over-production mood, plus two other "pop songs"; guitar racket that inevitably includes elements of the drone he seems to be trying to avoid; a "hidden bonus track"; and 43 tracks of digital silence. Limited edition of 75, each packaged in a glossy white CD folder with a swatch of Thai paper attached to spine, plus four double-sided postcard inserts with song descriptions.

MICK FARREN & THE DEVIANTS
Fragments of Broken Probes (Captain Trip Records; Japan) $12
Mick Farren comp 1968-1996 with a hodge-podge approach that sounds good to these ears, with an excerpt from a '67 interview and other bits in between the rockers, giving a cool Zappa-like quality that Farren has often played with. The best thing about the CD is the inclusion of his punk-era stuff with Larry Wallis and Paul Rudolph: "Screwed Up," "Outrageous Contagious," and "Shock Horror" from his Stiff EP ("Let's Loot the Supermarket" is not included); and the Ork single "Lost Johnny"/"Play With Fire." Also includes a couple tracks from Vampires Stole My Lunch Money, a couple good rockers with later Deviant collaborator Andy Conlquhoun, and even a bit of Farren's neo-beat spoken grumble. Does NOT include tracks from the three 60s Deviants LPs.

FEARLESS LEADER
God Bless the Devil (Gulcher Records) $10
Los Angeles was built on good vibes and bad times. Things are never what they seem. Just when you think you've sunk into something sweet, the bitch snarls back and tries to bite off yer weenie. That's why sometimes you gotta radiate bad vibes to conjure up a few good times. I can't think of any SoCal noisemakers of recent vintage who can goose them bad spots as good as Fearless Leader. These mofos spent a good chunk of the late 80s and most of the the 90s alienating fans, friends, club owners, alleged punks, avowed hippies, and other hapless California creatures. Who really wants to see a grown man shove Spam up his butt? What idiot wants to witness giant paper-mache penises toppling onto the green lawn of a quiet campus park? Why would anybody like a band that sets fires on the stages of clubs already panicked by local authorities? Smoke bombs, ugly naked men, bad makeup and retarded glam moves, fuzzed-out wah-wah guitar till your ears bleed--these evil-doers have a little bit of everything you don't want. In spite of how repulsive you may find these anti-social creeps, their recordings always burn with the same rockin' intensity as the Stooges, Kiss, the New York Dolls, and similar 70s icons--but crossed with a deep philosophy of stupe that's not unlike the early drool of the Dictators, the Gizmos, and the Angry Samoans. That they also love to dredge up the religious damage of their early lives only adds to the fun 'n frolic of drunken stoned fools who know that Satan will always come out looking cooler and sounding badder, even if he's still gonna lose in the end. R&R has always been played best by arrogant losers and the willfully brain damaged among us. This group of misfits has undergone many personnel changes over the years, but at the center since 1988 has been Sarge and Alien Rock on guitars and vocals. Sarge does the wigged-out Detroit-fueled lead-guitar noise, and the story goes that this dude really did grow up in the Motor City, permanently scarred as a pre-teen while witnessing live shows by the Stooges and the MC5. Alien Rock is more of the rhythm man. He's the one who sings the songs with the high nasal whine, and although he's been known to deny it, I've heard he's played in more L.A. bands than you can shake yer dick at. Among those he's allegedly played with are the Lazy Cowgirls, Crawlspace, Hot Damn, AC3, Big Dad & 10 Lbs. of Swingin' Meat, and the Leaving Trains. The most recent Fearless Leader drummer Bobzilla has also been rumored to play with many other bands (Claw Hammer, Crawlspace, Hot Damn, the Rotters, Nastasya Filippovna, Mike Watt, etc.). Bass player Chief Running Sore is even more mysterious than the others. The only bit of info this writer has come across is his supposed involvement with sacred mushrooms and a very hot girlfriend. GOD BLESS THE DEVIL is only the second full-length release by Fearless Leader. The first, produced by Jeff Dahl and released on Hell Yeah Records, was entitled ¡#;! and served as the soundtrack to the band's notorious 1992 direct-to-video trash-horror-rock-smut movie GRAVEYARD ROT. Fearless Leader made its debut on the 1988 comp LP GIMME THE KEYS, and has also released a couple of 7-inch records. True to the chaotic nature of this lousy bunch, GOD BLESS THE DEVIL was recorded in 1997, released in a tiny CDR edition in 2002, and is only now being brought to your mundane, meaningless world by Gulcher Records. I hate to have to say it about such a group of goons, but this shit smokes like little else I've heard in recent years. No halfway punk, no faked-up metal, nothing at all for the artistic types who think R&R is beneath them. The disc opens with "Doin' Donuts," an inspired bit of nonsense featuring vocals and lyrics from Fearless Leader pal Saverio Goffredo (R.I.P.), who left this stupid planet a couple years back. My other favorite thing here is the title track, written by Alien Rock and ex-FL member John Hancock. A. Rock chants (or raps?!) the chorus: "Jesus is the guy with the crown of thorns/Satan is the guy with the horns." The guitars are spazzy in a perfect James Williamson/Johnny Thunders manner that can't be learned by youngsters who didn't really live through the 70s. Like the entire album, this is drenched in confusion and underlying noise that modern by-the-numbers rockers can't even comprehend. A. Rock also whines out the vocals on "Am I Goin' Ta Hell," with whirring feedback guitar floating on top (or is it a synth?). Most of the album is sung, written, or co-written by mainman and self-proclaimed genius Sarge (a.k.a. Dr. Sleaze). There's a killer version of "Move A Little," which appeared in its original form on the '88 GIMME THE KEYS comp. The lyrics are as profound as ever: "Sittin' at home in my underwear/Baby, I-I-I-I-I I don't care!" And the music grinds away like an outtake from RAW POWER. Another fave rave is "Gotta Get My Shit Together," with Sarge repeating the title over and over and over until he throws up a verse of sexual bravado worthy of a bluesman with a boner, while spewing out shards of wah-wah metal. "I Got The Stuff" contains even more bragging from this doctor of lustful hate. "Toxic Crotch" is an insensitive ode to a skank: "She's got a toxic crotch/You know it stinks a lot." "She Got Cancer" also uses the most basic 50s-style R&R, but pumped up through Detroit-style proto-punk, like everything else here. The music is pure Chuck Berry/Heartbreakers. "Get With It" is a collaboration between Sarge and A. Rock, and sounds like very early L.A. punk (anybody remember the Controllers?). Bassist Chief Running Sore contributes the excellent "Secret Snake," filled with 70s riffage and cosmic lyrics that could crack open the Necronomicon and release all sorts of groovy elder gods. Why is there fungus sprouting from my carpet? Who let the Illuminati in the house? But seriously, folks, GOD BLESS THE DEVIL stinks real sweet 'n hard. And the Fearless Leader guys are no more creepy than you and yours friends. Yeah, they're really that bad. May Satan bless you all! Rock on!

FIBO-TRESPO
8.01% Action (Humbug; Norway) CDR $11
Reissue of Kjetil D. Brandsdal and Sindre Bjerga's second cassette from 1996. Sounds ebb and flow in a low, scratchy sea of Fibo-Trespo's alternating sound sources, which include piano, various other musical instruments, field recordings, samples, machinery, toys, drill, telephone, creaks 'n groans, etc. The assorted sounds move along randomly, but with interludes of seemingly accidental harmony and childlike melody.

FINKBEINER
The Challenge (Carbon Records) CDR $8
Second CDR release of overamped solo guitar mangle (and occasional grunt) from this Rochester challenger.

FINKBEINER
Washed Up (Carbon Records) CDR $8
14 minutes with Finkbeiner (and a few guests) doing swelling, expanding free-rock; exploratory string damage; and big strums. "You've got yr chocolate in my ratweed!"

PAUL FLAHERTY-CHRIS CORSANO
The Beloved Music (Family Vineyard) $11
Released 2006.

TIM FOLJAHN
Obvious Urban Landscape (Old Gold) $10
Tim Foljahn, the blues-folk-improv guitar guy from Two Dollar Guitar and Mosquito, does something entirely different on this 2001 disc. His "obvious urban landscape" or "obvious urban architecture" starts as a beepin' groovin' synth thing, with silly sped-up vocals, and slowly turns into a lot of other things. The synth dominates for awhile, moving from simple grooves to "oriental" melodies to near static space, with bits of found-sound vocals and other embellishments. Slowly, he adds more elements, looping sounds, weaving dirt and water into quite listenable mud. The CD is accompanied by a 24-page booklet with "story" written by Foljahn. Like his music, the text is dark, spontaneous, and kinda slippery in the way he never quite does what it seems like he's doing. Yep.

FOREVER
Love Changes (Old Gold) CD EP $7
Low-key, relatively lo-fi summer-in-the-bummer drunk-pop by three guys and a gal from Atlanta. Yeah, Arthur Lee is suggested, but also B. Springfield & early solo N. Young, third Velvets, probably some modern bands I've never heard. Six tunes. Purty nice, y'all.

FOYER DES ARTS
Die Menschen (Funfundvierzig; Germany) $12
Released 1995.

FROG EYES
The Bloody Hand (Global Symphonic; Canada) $10
Canadian band that often sounds kinda like Nick Cave in a frozen-tundra cabaret.

FROG EYES
The Golden River (Global Symphonic; Canada) $10
Second disc by Canadian band.

FUKKTRON & HAIR AND NAILS (Public Eyesore) split CDR $8
Fukktron (Vanessa & Dino) does 18 jagged electronic tracks that are sometimes song-like and sometimes not, sometimes rock-like and sometimes not. Hair and Nails (Walenska & Dino) contribute 16 tracks, similar in general approach but not very song-like or rock-like. No info with the CDR package, but this is the track list and credits from the PE website . . . Fukktron: time knows? / pudding pampers / darkroom / televator / k-y firebird / charlene's diploma / flakflak / you broke it! / you are samantha / sub-post nasal / no shuts / red pill / blue bill / what? / ab / bc / cd / do done. Hair and Nails: sugar shoot you! / leive the leiks outside / s.t.i.t.c.h. / red vidwhirl / puctured face / centuryshifter / avoid fl / he stairs purple / shoulders / by selene / squat blotches / high scrollin' / puslip / u decided no / grade choice voice / breakeg. Recorded '98 & '99.

GAYS IN THE MILITARY
People Is Beautiful (Gulcher Records) $10
Gulcher catalog: "This new Gays In The Military CD, People Is Beautiful, is a thick slab of balls-out psychedelic sleaze-rock as delightfully misanthropic as its Peter Bagge-drawn cover art. GitM have long reigned as one of Chicago's most consistently entertaining live acts, combining the spectacle of high-concept arena rock with the creepy sex vibe of a 42nd Street slime pit, and now they're bringing their obsessions and fixations to bear on their first 'studio' recording. The concept of Gays In The Military was born in Greensboro, NC in 1995 with three young UNC-G students--Art, Matt and Jeanna--and one dropout, Brian. After about a year of playing largely improvised psych-punk inspired by the early work of the Butthole Surfers and the Flaming Lips, GitM added a second guitarist, Ryan (of Greensboro's Raymond Brake), and became BRN MTN LTS, a new incarnation which took the original GitM concept into the realms of heavy metal, black magic, and full frontal nudity. After six months BRN MTN LTS called it quits, Art and Matt went on to form the Mercury Birds, who split when Matt moved to Texas and Art started his dead-on Southern rock project, All Night. In 2001, Brian found himself living in Chicago and decided to restart the band with fellow college radio DJs Geoff, Chris, and Melissa. After playing around Chicago and releasing Meat Gazers, a full-length CDR on underground noise label Scratch-N-Sniff Entertainment, GitM added Mike on rhythm guitar and recorded People Is Beautiful for Gulcher Records. The summer of 2005 found GitM reunited with their old drummer Matt and touring the country with NC guitar rock icons the Cherry Valence. Now, having just collaborated with Chicago underground filmmaker Miss Julie Fabulous on a video for their MP3 single 'Evil Physician/Evil Position,' GitM are concentrating on rocking the Midwest, taking their stage show to a higher plane, and working on a new concept album entitled Fairy Tails. Musically, GitM's output has run the gamut from spooky lo-fi home recordings to sound collages made up of dialogue from exploitation movies to blistering hardcore party rock jams. Always eager to pay tribute to their forebears, GitM have covered songs from Judas Priest, the Butthole Surfers, and most recently, the Godspell soundtrack. People Is Beautiful showcases the boys' love of the broad spectrum of rock music, featuring singalong choruses, rumbling squelchy guitars, one-note Greg Ginn-style solos, keyboard sounds that go from ELO-inspired melodies to the cacophonous squealing of Roxy Music-era Brian Eno, and lyrics inspired by tales of the sexual underground, exploitation flicks, life on the road, and the band's own twisted sense of humor. Never a joke band but always on the lookout for the next laugh, Gays In The Military have proved once again with People Is Beautiful that writing great songs doesn't preclude having a hell of a good time with it."

CARLOS GIFFONI
9 Hours With Jim and the Greatful Dead (Carbon Records) CDR $8
Carbon catalog: "9 hours with jim and the greatful dead is a 30+ minute improvisation using guitar, amp and a few guitar modulation effects that I find unique and necessary to express through certain sounds, and is a one take 30+ minute 'jam'. when I first planned to record it it was meant to be a joke on a long and strange conversation I had with Jim Dunbar and Don Fleming at a show the night before about The Legendary Greatful [sic] Dead jams in the west coast that supposedly lasted sometimes up to that long and that apparently Jim saw more than once. I wanted to make something with enough variation of sound and mood so that it felt like it was 9 hours compressed in a much shorter 'jam', steal some interesting moments from the eternal dictation and crunch them all together in one piece. When I started playing the guitar, the piece evolved into something else and I just let it go. for 30 minutes +, what I consider a long time for 1 'jam'. maybe I am too young and have a short attention span, or maybe I just wasn't there. You can ask Jim about it, Jim was there, for 9 hours, more than once. I really couldn't be there, I wasn't born at the time and currently I am still trying to finish college." Edition of 75.

CARLOS GIFFONI & DYLAN NYOUKIS
Chewing Smoke (Imvated; Belgium) $11
Edition of 500 copies. Imvated catalog: "Carlos from Old Bombs and Monotract, and Dylan from Chocolate Monk, Prick Decay/Decaer Pinga. While sending bits and pieces through the mail, Chewing Smoke got round. Carlos did the final mix. Resulting in a fabulous disc, combining digital and analogue sqeesh. Hums and cracks. Alarm systems. Voices and sounds. Pierre Henry after a smack of pcp. Mego artists on the loose. Your best friend tuning your safety alarm. Comes in a shiny small silkscreened cardboard cover. Hooray!"

ANDY GILMORE
Lord, Hold My Hand While I Run This Race (Carbon Records) CDR $8
Carbon catalog: "the eighth in the Carbon 10 year anniversary CDR series. a truly magnificant collection of guitar and piano pieces from one of the nicest and most creative people i know. Andy creates, whether it be with guitar or piano, pencil or ink, word or thought. clocking in at over 44min, this release contains 13 tracks, one of which is a 14min live piece, each of which exudes the level of emotion and delicateness that we've come to expect from Andy."

THE GIZMOS
1976/1977: The Studio Recordings (Gulcher Records) $11
Back in print! Third pressing! Back in March 1976, when the Ramones were still a local New York band and the Sex Pistols weren't even a rumor in the U.S., a group of teenage fanzine writers, rock cultists, and heavy-metal dudes got together in Bloomington, Indiana, and recorded the first Gizmos EP. The strong influences of the Dictators, the MC5, the Stooges, the Velvet Underground, 60s garage bands, and 50s rockabilly crashed head-on with musicians self-trained on Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Santana, and Hendrix. The underground success of the first EP led to another session in April 1977, which yielded two more EPs: Amerika First and Gizmos World Tour. 1976/1977: The Studio Recordings, the first-ever legitimate reissue of Gizmos material, collects the three EPs by the original Gizmos, along with eleven previously unreleased outtakes from the two sessions. The 16-page CD booklet contains mostly unpublished photos, Richard Meltzer's original liner notes for the first EP, and extensive liner notes by Gizmo Eddie Flowers. Founding Gizmo and main songwriter Ken Highland went on to record with a long succession of bands, including O. Rex, the Afrika Korps, the Hopelessly Obscure, Johnny & the Jumper Cables, the Exploding Pidgins, the Kenne Highland Klan, and the Vatican Sex Kittens. Rich Coffee, who was one of the three Gizmos guitarists, has been in a long string of bands too, including Thee Fourgiven, the Unclaimed, the Tommyknockers, the Egomaniacs, and the Excessories. Eddie Flowers has led the ever-mutating Crawlspace since 1985. Also includes guest appearances by MX-80's Rich Stim and Johnny Cougar Mellencamp (no kiddin'!).

THE GIZMOS
1975-1977: Demos & Rehearsals (Gulcher Records) double CD $14
The Gizmos' story of early American punk is re-told with 54 previously unreleased tracks and a 20-page booklet. Included are Ken Highland's '75 demos that started the whole thing; Ken and Eddie Flowers, as the Rockabilly Yobs, accidentally discovering swamp-trash-punk; Rich Coffee's stoner-rock band Cerberus joining Ken for the first Gizmos rehearsal; Marine-era demos by Ken; and Ted Niemiec's demos for the '77 Gizmos sessions. With versions of faves like "Mean Screen," "Chicken Queen," "That's Cool," "Muff Divin'," "Human Garbage Disposal," "Cave Woman," "Amerika First," "Kiss of the Rat," "Gizmos World Tour," and "Hey Beat Mon!" And six songs that Ken recorded with the Afrika Korps in 1977-78. Plus many unheard and even unremembered tunes! How could the classic Giz-rock of "Talkin' on the Telephone" and "Seaside Boogie With a Jack-Off Solo" have remained unreleased for all these years?! The booklet is packed with riff-by-riff details from Krazee Ken and Ready Eddie, and lots of unpublished photos.

THE GIZMOS
Live in Bloomington--1977/1978 (Gulcher Records) double CD $16
This includes 18 tracks from the only two shows the Ken Highland-era Gizmos ever played, 3 tracks by the "original" band from the one show they played without Ken Highland, and 27 tracks by the Ted Niemiec/Dale Lawrence Gizmos. With most of the hits, a few unreleased originals, and lots of covers. Phil Hundley sez: "Somewhere in between the celebrated and much-beloved Ken Highland Gizmos and the beloved and much-celebrated Dale Lawrence Gizmos lies the pretty much ignored and unknown middle period Gizmos: the Ted Niemiec Gizmos. No mistake about it, this was Ted's band. I had just turned 16 when I read a classified ad in Indianapolis' Radio Free Rock announcing that something called the Gizmos was looking for a drummer. Make a record, it said. Maybe tour the world, it said. It just so happened that making a record and touring the world (or at least playing Max's in NYC) were, at 16, the two things I needed to do before I could die happy, so I answered it. And I would have been the Gizmos' drummer (beloved and much-celebrated) had not Shadow Myers also answered that ad. I got to settle for being what Bob Richert referred to as the 'Handsome Dick Manitoba' of the band. What Dale Lawrence referred to as the 'fat teenager playing the tambourine.' What have you, I liked being a Gizmo. In Ted's band. Three or four times a week I would leave school and drive the 50 miles down to Bloomington to rehearse or, as you will hear, play a show. The shows were fun. We played a youth center in Clinton, IN, and two kids showed up. Ted brought them up on stage and made them background singers for a few songs. They had fun. The Gizmos were fun. Ted was fun. Even when lots of people would show up. Sometime after the shows and days on this record whatever the hell punk was turned awfully angry and serious and pious and self-reflective (and too often self-righteous) and stopped being fun. The Ted Gizmos were fun. Listening to these recordings, most of which I had never heard before, I found myself grinning, laughing and having an awfully good time. Rock'n'roll can do that for you. It does that for me. I suspect it still does that for Ted, too. While Ken is all over disc one and Dale is all over disc two, these are Ted's discs. If his alter-boy-caught-with-porn-mags persona is a little goofy, it is also a hoot. After all, he was just holding onto them for a friend (probably Ken). If he seemed a little dubious signing 'I Shoot Up,' he knew how to rock it and that's what matters. I've never met Kenne Highland, but I love his records. Dale Lawrence may still rather not have had a fat Manitoba in his band, but I love his music anyway. Nearly thirty years later, though, I am still rather pleased and proud to have been a teenaged Gizmo. In Ted's Gizmos."

THE GIZMOS
1978-1981: Never Mind the Gizmos Here's the Gizmos (Gulcher Records) $11
Gulcher catalog: "1978-1981: NEVER MIND THE GIZMOS HERE'S THE GIZMOS assembles the 14 tracks originally released on Gulcher vinyl by the post-Ken Highland/Eddie Flowers Gizmos. After the original group scattered in early 1977, vocalist Ted Niemiec and Gulcher's Bob Richert put together a sextet of new Gizmos. In 1978, they toured the east coast and recorded the EP NEVER MIND THE SEX PISTOLS HERE'S THE GIZMOS. Standout tracks are early versions of 'Cry Real Tears' (Vulgar Boatmen) and 'The American Dream' (Walking Ruins), and a cover of the Sex Pistols B-side 'Did You No Wrong.' Within two years Niemiec, rhythm guitarist Steve Feikes, and tambourinist Phil Hundley were gone, and downsized to a quartet of Dale Lawrence, Billy Nightshade, Shadow Myers, and new guitarist Tim Carroll, the Gizmos released the 1980 split HOOSIER HYSTERIA album with Dow Jones & The Industrials. Highlights include the manic 'Dead Astronauts,' ironic 'Rock & Roll Don't Come From New York,' and Al Green's 'Take Me To The River.' A year later, unaware of their impending Indiana fame, the band relocated to Hoboken, New Jersey. With new drummer Robbie Wise, they recorded several demos with the MX-80 Sound production team of Mark Bingham and Mark Hood. Only 'The Midwest Can Be Allright' was released then, on the 1981 Gulcher compilation LP RED SNERTS; it took another 20 years for the 1981 NYC DEMOS CD-EP to appear. A bonus living room take of 'Please Panic' concludes this collection; although they unmercifully slagged their mentors, Bloomington's high school Panics covered several Gizmos songs, including from this CD 'Tie Me Up,' 'Pay,' and 'Reggae Song.'"

THE GIZMOS
Rock & Roll Don't Come from New York (Gulcher Records) $11
25 tracks from1979-1981 by the post-Ted Niemiec "fake" Gizmos (Dale Lawrence, Billy Nightshade, Tim Carroll, Shadow Myers, Robbie Wise). Includes their tracks from the Hoosier Hysteria split LP, The Midwest Can Be Alright--1981 Demos CD EP, and Red Snerts comp. Plus lots of previously unreleased studio and live stuff. With 16-page booklet.

DARIN GRAY & LOREN MAZZACANE CONNORS
This Past Spring (Family Vineyard) $10
Second CD pairing NYC guitar master with bass guitarist Darin Gray, recorded live 2000 at the Monroe County Public Library in Bloomington, Indiana. As the two musicians inch along, guitar and bass notes moving very slowly into improvised melodies, the space-in-between is filled with the library room's natural reverb, low amp buzz, and an occasional shuffling in the amazingly quiet audience. When Loren finally hits a modified power chord and begins to freak a bit, it's like the place is exploding!

GYAATEES
Gyaatees I (Captain Trip Records; Japan) $12
This Japanese group of Sei-sou priests ("clean priest who is intellectually handicapped") and hippie-type rock musicians stir up a marvelous chaos: screams and pounding drums weave in and out of free-jamming horns, keyboards, and guitars. Like a DIY version of Coltrane's Ascension. One long cut from 1996.

GYAATEES
Gyaatees III: Welcome/Motoharu-Yoshizawa Last Live
(Captain Trip Records; Japan) $12
Gyaatees jazz-fusion?! Not quite, but this CD is much cleaner and less chaotic than their other recordings. Spacey, opened up, with prominent soloing by Motoharu Yoshizawa on electric double bass. Whatever it is this group is "trying to do," it's still sweetly unclassifiable and undoubtedly real.

HAIR AND NAILS
III (Public Eyesore) CDR $8
Recorded '99 & '00 by Hair and Nails (Walenska & Dino).

EMILY HAY & MARCOS FERNANDES
We Are (Public Eyesore) $10
Public Eyesore catalog: "Emily Hay and Marcos Fernandes' new collaborative CD offering WE ARE, captures the capricious nature of improvisation as they move from rhythmic interplay to ambient textures and globally informed grooves to sparring electronics. Anchored by their duets, this collection of studio recordings boasts several trio explorations with renowned bassist Lisle Ellis and a quartet featuring Ellen Weller on winds and Al Scholl on guitar. On this recording, Hay uses voice, flute, piccolo and piano, Fernandes provides percussion, phonographies (or field recordings) and samples while Ellis adds a wide palette of sounds with his bass and laptop electronics The musicians shift between acoustic and electronically processed instrumentation, complimenting and contrasting each other as they create their various sonic spaces which are often abstract yet remain direct and primal." Emily Hay lives in Los Angeles, and has worked with various avant, art rock, and improv ensembles: U Totem, the Motor Totemist Guild, Otherparts, I Am Umbrella, the Rich West Ensemble, and others. Marcos Fernandes is based in San Diego, working as performer, producer, and curator; he is a founding member of the Trummerflora collective.

THE HELLBENDERS
Pop Rock Suicide (Dead Beat Records) $7

THE HELLBENDERS / SAFETY PINS (split) (Dead Beat Records) $7

THE HI-GOD PEOPLE
Nega the Eight Headed Serpent (Varispeed Recordings; Australia) $14
Improvised not-rock from Australia. They use mostly basic guitars/keyboards/drums to explore longish themes that flash on 1967 Pink Floyd, early Art Ensemble of Chicago (when the percussion comes in), minimal repetitions, just about the whole of post-WW2 outsider music. Fans of the Dead C and Sandoz Lab Technicians will feel right at home.

HILKKA
I Can't Hear My Teevee! (Early Material) (Carbon Records) CDR $8
Early stuff from the Rochester NY post-punk/post-rock/math-rock/noise-rock trio that included Joe Tunis and Nuuj. Carbon catalog: "a collection of very early recordings from Hilkka. includes some alternate recordings of previously released tracks, unreleased studio recordings, live tracks, as well as recordings from the very first rehearsal, and some collage re-works. a mix between math-rock and noise-textures. it's a mess! [packaged in a clear jewel case with a transparent tray card (liner notes), along with metal screen material in the tray.]"

HILKKA/LIFT
In Cooperation With Gravity (Carbon Records) CDR $8
Two mid-90s outsider rock bands from Rochester, New York. The real stand-out is Hilkka, who manage to break down and rise above their own self-imposed conventions. It's also the band that launched more recent non-"rock" sounds by Joe Tunis and Nuuj.

HOLLYDRIFT
This Way to Escape (Public Eyesore) CDR $9
Public Eyesore catalog: "New works by Middleton Wisconin's Mathias Anderson. Subtle and secluded compositions incorporating gently flowing mechanical noises, drifting whines & drones, slowly evolving loops, and highly processed found and incidental recordings."

HOLLYWOOD SQUARETET
Tet-Offensive (Gulcher Records) $10
Why did Albert Ayler cross the road? To get to the OTHER side, motherfucker! This stupid, stupid universe we live within is a tea party always awaiting creative upheaval. Assholes like George W. make with lots of upheaval--but no creation. And the streets are littered with schmucks who have ideas but no FREE WILL with which to turn the crapple cart on its ass side. Then there are honest-to-pete free men like the Hollywood Squaretet who are willing to git down, turn your head around, and make it to that OTHER side. "Welcome to the Fuck You Lounge," as drummer-ranter Larry Copcar states so eloquently. "What is the password?" he asks. "FUCK YOU!" answer his bandmates. Bandmate number one is MISTER Todd Homer on the upright bass and (occasionally) alto sax. Yeah, he's the dude who was the bass guitarist with the ORIGINAL Angry Samoans (negativity personified), and later in his career, co-leader of the wonderful Mooseheart Faith Stellar Groove Band (101% positivity). With the Squaretet, Todd reclaims the (self-)righteous indignation of the Samoans, but retains the PRO-gressive urges of Mooseheart Faith (what a trick, huh?). And then there's MISTER Kenny Kawamura playing various saxophones like a man possessed--except free men can't be owned, so this is ALL his own fault. Do NOT blame it on the bossa nova, baby--blame it on the super nova sailing through this cat's noggin. Kenny has been involved in his share of outsider projects, including Fellaheen, Beekeeper, and Chic Empowerment Center. He has also worked on various indie-film soundtracks as a multi-instrumentalist. Okay, we'll call this stuff "free-jazz," but I don't remember Ayler or Dolphy or Shepp peppering their material with comedic insults or spazzy guitars (courtesy of guest stars Mikaleno, Gil Chinn, and Mooseheart Faith's other mainman Larry Robinson). That's because Larry Copcar is equal parts Elvin Jones and Rodney Dangerfield--Sunny Murray and Sam Kinison! Under his "real name" (shhh), Copcar spent much of the 80s doing stand-up comedy (he even appeared on HBO specials). And in the 60s, he played in various garage bands, releasing a single on Roulette Records in 1968 with the Bougalieu. Are you there yet, music fans? This trio (and its extended variations) is like a Lester Bangs wet dream: the ESP-Disk jazz catalog forced into fusion with the satiric fuck-you of ESP "rockers" the Fugs and the Holy Modal Rounders. Don't misunderstand me--it's the sonic collision between these three players that makes room for the humor, not the other way 'round. But it's all one big ball of improvised L.A. chaos. Charles Bukowski shakin' hands with Charles Mingus. Somebody's mama with her skirt up 'round her waist and a very cold beer goin' down the other end. Kenny, Todd, and Larry cracklin' like a summer storm, and then the hail starts fallin'--hard. You are there now, in the heart of the confusion and the too-high smirks. Did you say fuck ME? Well, fuck YOU! Blow, babies, blow!

HOME BLITZ (Gulcher Records) $11
Home Blitz is 21-year-old Daniel DiMaggio from Princeton, New Jersey. He recorded and released his first two singles on his own. When the first one showed up in my mailbox in '05, it was just what I was waiting to hear. The underground had drifted so far into abstract space that I was longing for something direct and simple. That first record was a magic whirl of early Modern Lovers, Big Star, and Flamin' Groovies circa '72--but with a casual no-fi vibe that sounded closer to the first couple Harry Pussy singles. Huh?! Yeah. Just about (non-)perfect! On this new Home Blitz CD release, Gulcher Records has collected those first two singles (way out of print), material from a cassette release, a new HB 12" EP, and two otherwise unavailable tracks. From the first single, "Apocalyptic Grades 2005" is a powerpop/postpunk hybrid with guitars that sound like the Fall circa '78 covering the Flamin' Groovies. On the very bratty "AC S.S.," it sounds to me like early Screamin' Mee-Mees crossed with early Modern Lovers. But my favorite from that first 7" is "Hey!" It comes on as if Big Star's RADIO CITY had been recorded under the more addled conditions of Alex Chilton's LIKE FLIES ON SHERBERT. It starts like a great noise-drenched powerpop anthem--"I got the gift that keeps on givin'/It's called electric guitar!"--but soon stops midstream. "I gotta get some gum," the singer complains. It picks up again after the song's imaginary bridge. A second guitar comes in--melodic and overloaded like a perfect 1969 Lou Reed guitar fill. The second HB 7" was LIVE OUTSIDE, released in '06. On this one, Daniel dragged his instruments and battery-powered amps onto the street in front of his house and "performed live w/o audience on the corner of Mercer and Hibben Streets, Princeton, NJ." Is it the first powerpop field recording?! "Stupid Street" has Daniel narrating his own song, describing his surroundings, before he suddenly spits out the first line of the song, "Hey girl, I'm gonna cut your spine!" So sweetly vicious. "Feeling Cold" again documents the Home Blitz street scene, this time purely in song. Like, it's November in Jersey, and yer freezin' yer ass off recording on the sidewalk! It's a perfect Modern Lovers/Half Japanese-style pop tune, with maybe one of the all-time great fallen-apart guitar solos. "I feel like ridin' bikes tonight/But mine's been in the shop all day." The next Home Blitz release was a 2006 split cassette (with Friends & Family), which shows Daniel's interest in more overt "experimental" sounds: de-tuned guitars, ambient rumbles, electronic squiggles, free clatter, instrumental introspection. But even in this setting, he comes up with a tune like "Benches"--just acoustic guitar and vocals, with a bit of overdubbed electric leads--which reminds me of Big Star's version of Loudon Wainwright's "Motel Blues." There's also a cover of Public Disturbance's "Bored" (don't know the original), which sounds nothing like the punkrock I expected. Instead, it comes across like a darkly shimmering psychedelic ballad. And "GT Performers" is a frantic punkrocker (no noise) about "takin' chances and makin' friends." From the upcoming 12" EP on Parts Unknown come five more winners. "Right Cut Even" (Rick Derringer having a powerpop breakdown), "Little League" (autobiographical angst hammered home by verses of Beefheartian power blues and a couple choruses of powerpop explosion), "Flying" (with cool bursts of mid-70s double-lead unison guitars), "Something 2 Do" (more Beefheartian angles + L.A. hardcore circa '81 + Pistols-influenced UK powerpop), and a cover of Slade's "My Town" (whacky!). Rounding out this CD collection is a much wilder 4-track version of "Little League" and the otherwise unreleased "A.F.F.," one of the best tracks here. Again defying logic, Daniel turns a very personal tale into an excellent blast of powerpop/punkrock with stuttering freejazz sax and several odd time changes. The story itself seems like a mystical revelation from younger years or maybe just an imaginary childhood friend: "Well, there's an actual physical feeling living in the air/And I'd like to make it feel at home but you know I'm scared" . . .

HOT HOT HEAT / THE RED LIGHT STING (split)
(Ache Records; Canada) $10

IDM THEFT ABLE
I See Faint Fireflies September Dim (Imvated; Belgium) CDR $9
Imvated catalog: "An overwhelming bedtime story straight outa Kraagistan. Scott, the good duud behind the MANG DISC label, delivering the good vibes for 78 minutes. one take. flies, wood, a dog, fire and vocals. comes in a multicolor cover with loads of inserts."

THE ISABEL'S PAIN
Vol. 1 (Metamorphos; Finland) $11
Contemporary garage/Detroit-influenced rock band from Finland. Released 1998.

JANDEK
Graven Image (Corwood Industries) $7
Twenty-third Jandek album and first CD-only release from 1994.

JOE+4
Lock32 (Carbon Records) CDR $8
Carbon catalog: "a release inspired by the cyclical patterns of lock32 on the Erie Canal System. Joe+4 is Joe Tunis of Hilkka's solo joint. Covering mostly ambient and stark trajectories with guitar, static, found sounds and lots of effects. This release conjures up a brooding and unnerving atmosphere. Some tracks might bring to mind Jandek or Loren Mazzacane Connors at their most lonesome and desolate." Yep. Yea. Two big toes up.

JOE+N
Exposure and Experience (Carbon Records) $8
The continuing adventures of Joe Tunis in his exploratory solo mode. Some of the guitar plunk here is not too far from Jandek, but there's also interesting ambient things, sound investigations, field recordings, loud guitar things, piano, etc.

JOE+N
E+E (Live) (Carbon Records) CDR $8
Joe Tunis's day-long "tour" in celebration of his Exposure and ExperienceCD. Instead of the usual club-listening-party, Joe tossed some equipment in the back of his jeep and headed for jam sessions with nature at Lock32 of the Erie Canal System, in a local park, beside railroad tracks, at a record store, and on a radio show. In each location, Joe recorded ambient sounds before his performance, which he would then play back and incorporate into the next performance. So, while the artist plunks at guitar and twiddles knobs, we also hear birds and insects, floating conversation, trains and children--moving from location to location, juxtaposed into new realities, chucklin' up swell sounds, moving this CD beyond any mere "conceptual" status. Limited edition of 100, hand-packaged and numbered in DVD cases, with booklet detailing the "tour."

JOE+N
Post (Carbon Records) CDR $8
Carbon catalog: "A compilation of found tape experiments and field recordings from the past couple years. Ranges from full-out drone guitar/reverb to underwater mic'ing. Limited edition of 64, hand-packaged and numbered in recycled LP sleeves. Includes block-printed logo on cover and painted 'vinyl art' (recycled LPs)." Real good stuff by Joe Tunis, in an impressive homemade package.

JOE+N
Introducing Something to the System (Carbon Records) CDR $8
Mr. Joe Tunis workin' up a noisy sweat, "harsh" but listenable as heck (from where I'm sittin'), sparsely arranged/edited sounds, with the emphasis on loud and sudden. I likes. Tell us about it, Joe: "5 tracks of field recordings and ultra-harsh electronics. no instruments were used on this recording. constructed entirely using a portable MiniDisc recorder, contact mics, Behringer mixer and patch cords. [limited edition of 50, each packaged in a kraft envelope with unique artwork on each. hand numbered]"

JOE+N
Patterns+Space (Carbon Records) 3" mini-CDR $5
Oh yeah, this is a good 'un--got them lonely railroad blues. Here's what Carbon Joe sez: "clocking in at 17+ minutes. contains field recordings of trains, space between trains, echos of trains and some guitar for good measure. an experiment in the (unintentional) patterns around us, day to day, and the spaces in-between. [limited edition of 75, each packaged in a mini jewel-case. 25 different images were used. numbered by design.]"

JOE+N
Day-Tours (Carbon Records) 3CDR $15
Carbon catalog: "celebrating the 3rd annual Joe+N day-tour, this box set includes recordings from the previous 2 day-tours. specifically, it includes all the live performances from day-tour 2001 and all the field recordings from day-tour 2000. a collection of solo guitar, homemade instruments, found sounds, and musique concrete. also features collaborations with John Schoen (of Pengo) and Chad Oliveiri. 3 CDRs packaged in a handmade wooden box (6"x6"x1") with silkscreened front and back. numbered edition of 50."

JOE+N
Oil Leaks and Cicadas (Carbon Records) CDR $8
Reissue of a limited-edition lathe-cut 12-inch. Recorded on a trip to Austin in 2001, Joe Tunis uses guitar, amp, cheap tape recorder, sampler/delay pedal, and a cello bow to create half an hour of low buzz, bluesy pickin', and lucky glitches. High-quality snazz.

JOE+N
Selector: AM or Party Tape for Adults Only or Is This Thing Supposed to Do That? (Carbon Records) CDR $8
What the hell you doin' in the other room, junior?! Stop playin' with that damn radio before it drives everybody crazy! (Equipment used by J. Tunis: Panasonic 8-track AM/FM stereo, Don Rickles 8-track tape, AM dial, Sharp MT831 MiniDisc recorder, and RCA to 1/8" stereo cord.) All right, that's better . . . a little calm around he-- GodDAMN! There it goes again! Turn that shit off! (Recorded 06.12.2001 - 1:20AM.) Fool thinks he's makin' music or somethin' tunin' them dials and turnin' up the bad parts. Ma, I think that boy's retarded. . . . (Edition of 75. This is one of the most random, and least "musical," pieces of whatsis I've heard in a long time. Even when pop music comes in on the radio, it's so random as to become just another sound among others. The kinda thing that most people would never consider "art," much less sit through. I like this a lot!) Aggggghhhhh! (Released 2002.)

JOE+N
Live at Christchurch (Carbon Records) CDR $8
10YR.Series.01: first in Carbon Records' 10-year anniversary CDR series. This features 17+ minutes of Joe Tunis (Carbon boss, Pengo, etc.) on solo guitar, feedback, and piano. Nice low-key float. Yep. Released 2004.

JOE+N
Crickets and Friends (Carbon Records) 2CDR $12
Here's a very hep 'n wiggy 2 disc'r from Joe Tunis, recordings of crickets in upstate NY mixed in with his pals Marc Faris, Lee Jones, Patrick LePlante, Rudy Millian, and Ella Tunis. The full scoop from Joe: "this is a recording of a sound-installation created for a photo exhibit by Kate Laux, entitled Self-Portrait Collaborations. 'the project began 4 years ago as a way to stay connected with friends and family as i moved, travelled and moved. i would mail out rolls of film or disposable cameras and ask my collaborators to shoot self-portraits. the collaborators were instructed to mail the film back to me. i processed/printed their film and mailed them proofs or contact sheets. i created a new project by responding to my collaborators work in whatever way my collaborator chose, unless they gave no indication of how i should respond. my collaborators are aware that these works will be exhibited.' borrowing from Kate's theme of request-for-submission/collaboration, i asked various people i know to record themselves and/or their surroundings, and send me the results. i did not restrcit them to any theme, format or content. i, in turn, recoded my surroundings in the weeks leading up to this exhibit. the majority of my recordings were based on night-time sounds around my house, primarily crickets. on 3 straight nights, i recorded the flower garden below my front porch, where a cricket set up camp. i used small microphones, which i was able to lower into the plant field and maneuver in close proxmity to the cricket, without disturbing it. aside from the obvious macro-drones of the cricket songs, i also heard an entire set of new sounds i've never noticed. clicks, pops, static, the sound of the cricket starting and stopping its song, anomalies in its rhythm and other 'disturbances.' i then took these source recordings and laid them out in such a way as to juxtapose my friends describing themselves or their surroundings, and the cricket 'describing' my surrounding." Released 2004.

JOSHUA JUGBAND 5
Joshua Jugband 5/Damascus Doldrum (Gulcher Records) $11
Joshua Jugband 5 was the name used by Swedish musician Jakob Olausson for two limited-edition CDRs a few years back. In 2002, the self-titled JJ5 debut was released by my label Slippy Town. Recorded at home on 4-track, Jakob used guitar and percussion to make 30 minutes of pure grade-"L" instrumental psych-out, low-key wall-rumblin' groove, and heavy livin'-room glow. The disc contained four untitled jam-gems. The JJ5 follow-up, Damascus Doldrum, was released by Ramadan in 2003. This one has three more untitled tracks clocking in at just over 30 minutes. Again, it's filled with great psych guitar distortion, dirty drone 'n bellow, caveman drums, and unknown tongues. The third track is a doozy within the midst of the dooz: hovering low-end joy slowly waking like a very murkadelic Jeffersilver Airship jam. Cymbal tap-tappin', and dig that rubber-band guitar sustain. Open, the window, ma--I want my head shoveled. Sure feels good. If you dig the Godz, the Screamin' Mee-Mees, Silver Apples, the Twinkeyz, Mike Rep & the Quotas, Hawkwind, Amon Duul I (etc) . . . here's some MORE, but without all the words to get in the way of your wander. And now, thanks to the good folk at Gulcher, you can get these two long-gone goodies on a silver disc that'll last longer than them dainty little CDRs. Since the release of the two Joshua Jugband 5 CDRs, Jakob has moved into a more outsider-folk bag, releasing a solo LP under his own name and another with his girlfriend as Sus & Jakob.

THE KORPS
Hello World! (Gulcher Records) $11
Ken Kaiser says: "'The Worst Band In The World' was the headline in Sounds Magazine on March 10, 1979. They were describing The Korps and their new LP, Hello World. Ouch! But then the text continued, 'The worst band in the world make an album of superlative chic.' The reviewer, Dave McCullough, went on to give the LP five out of a possible five stars--the highest possible rating. How could a widely read, respected, mainstream magazine describe the Korps as the worst band in the world? How could they turn around and praise their 1978 album in terms so lofty it seemed that Hello World might take a place in the pantheon of most overrated records of all time? Did this make any sense? What was it all about? Why am I asking you? The reason people were so gaga about the Korps (pronounced 'core') was that they had actually recorded a blazing hot rock album. This brilliantly packaged Gulcher reissue contains the original 16 tracks and four outtakes from Hello World, the 1977 Ken Kaiser solo 45, and a final bonus 1979 cut by The Kennes. Add 'em up--23 slices of prime number weirdness! The sound is crisp, clean, strong, and loud. Tossed in the mix are the Slickee Boys' Kim Kane, the amazing vocals of Martha Hull, a 10-page booklet featuring incisive song analyses by Ken Kaiser, and a slew of unpublished photos. All combine to give the album a spontaneous zeitgeist of manic energy and the unabashed enthusiasm of ignorant youth. Hello World has a great sound and is fun to listen to. The songs are short, catchy sing-a-long refrains. 'We Are The Only Real People' kicks off this raw, distorted roller coaster ride. 'Winner By Elimination,' ' Designs On You,' and 'Mad At The World' are ready-made pop classics. Martha Hull's vocal brilliance is undeniable--hear her moving, preternaturally beautiful voice on '(I Wanna) Burnout.' One of the themes which permeates every track is a sort of giggling, in-joke-infested insanity. Check out 'Don't Get Fresh With Me' and 'I Went Downtown, To See My Gal, She Wasn't There--So I Left.' It's obvious that these guys had fun making this record! Kenne Highland and Kenny Kaiser met during the recording of the Afrika Korps Music To Kill By album in 1977. That LP, reissued on CD in 2001 (Gulcher 405), was picked by Julie Burchill as the best album of the year in New Musical Express. One year earlier Kenne Highland had already commenced leaving his footprints on the face of posterity with the proto-punk legends the Gizmos. Together, the Korps duo had absorbed the best of Iggy & The Stooges, the Ramones, the Dictators, Moe and those earlier Stooges, Kiss, Alice Cooper, the Who, and all the weird, wild, and wonderful stuff that they could find. They digested it all down to its barebones essence, then regurgitated the entire mix onto a pizza pie of bright blue vinyl. That was Hello World! The Korps were together for just one year, but Highland and Kaiser would work together for the rest of the 70s and the first half of the 80s. Kenne Highland remains world-renowned, notorious as one the few true wildman geniuses of all time. Both Kennes have gigged extensively in and around their homebase of Boston, Massachusetts, and performed on innumerable records, tapes and CDs. Hello World was one of the high points in the recording careers of both Kennes. Now is your chance to hear for yourself what all the fuss was about. You have my personal guarantee that you will love this CD, and I oughta know!"

WAYNE KRAMER & THE PINK FAIRIES
Cocaine Blues (Total Energy) $10
Ex-MC5 guitarist live in England 1978 with the Pink Fairies (Larry Wallis, Andy Colquhoun, George Butler); 1978 studio tracks ("Do You Love Me" / "East Side Girl" / "The Harder They Come"); 1974 studio tracks ("Get Some" / "Ramblin' Rose"). Liner notes by Mick Farren and Wayne Kramer.