Sunday, May 01, 2005
Oh, by the way --
Jordan on fire.
~~~
No place online yet to hear Ned Sublette intone "Congo Nation," but if you're wondering what he was up to circa 1980, go here and check out track 25. (And thanks to ubu-wonderland for digitizing all those Dial-A-Poem LPs -- the one linked to, Sugar, Alcohol, & Meat was exciting for me to revisit -- the Pomona Public Library, a little uncharacteristically*, had a copy that I checked out repeatedly in H.S.* The two-channel chunk of "Litany," a long, loose Patti Smith piece ("Parade," don't think it's in the books), Charles Bernstein's way of voicing "wall as...." Formative.
Maybe someday I'll also figure out how Sublette's two records w/ Lawrence Weiner fit in to all this.
*I'm being unfair. I was taken every three weeks for years before I could drive, after my regular allergy shots; it's where I encountered Harry Mathews' first 3 novels, in an omnibus ed. (book club?) I haven't seen since, and an odd collection of sheet music, The Best of New Wave Rock that included lead sheets for, e.g., "Swallow My Pride," "Anarchy in the U.K.," "X Offender" and, now this is strange, three Rezillos' songs, all with pretty accurate basslines.** Ontario Public was As We Know, Monk, and a Bob & Ray LP I can still repeat jokes from; Upland, closest by, was FO'H.
**And "Psycho Killer." My best friend Scott Smith's mother gave piano lessons (I was taking mine at "The Music Merchant" in Montclair Plaza, from a woman who often commented on the length of my eyelashes), and had both a baby grand and a small Wurlitzer in the living room. Scott would get down on the floor and play the bassline on the foot-pedals, while I did the scored guitar part at the piano, and sang, I guess, though I don't know what I did about the French. (This is all a few years before I picked up a guitar.) We also had an original, a fake metal song called "Kill The Blood-Haters," though, given the instrumentation, it sounded more like The Unkowns.
~~~
Speaking of Talking Heads, I think I've just heard what could well be the worst ZE release (008); "Jimmy Igo"/"The Word," a 1978 12" by Last Men. Rock division, not disco at all -- imagine 77 minus imagination re songform, plus blooz gtr on one song and many, many tom fills on both. And lyrics about necrophilia. Not Much Wave?
Jordan on fire.
~~~
No place online yet to hear Ned Sublette intone "Congo Nation," but if you're wondering what he was up to circa 1980, go here and check out track 25. (And thanks to ubu-wonderland for digitizing all those Dial-A-Poem LPs -- the one linked to, Sugar, Alcohol, & Meat was exciting for me to revisit -- the Pomona Public Library, a little uncharacteristically*, had a copy that I checked out repeatedly in H.S.* The two-channel chunk of "Litany," a long, loose Patti Smith piece ("Parade," don't think it's in the books), Charles Bernstein's way of voicing "wall as...." Formative.
Maybe someday I'll also figure out how Sublette's two records w/ Lawrence Weiner fit in to all this.
*I'm being unfair. I was taken every three weeks for years before I could drive, after my regular allergy shots; it's where I encountered Harry Mathews' first 3 novels, in an omnibus ed. (book club?) I haven't seen since, and an odd collection of sheet music, The Best of New Wave Rock that included lead sheets for, e.g., "Swallow My Pride," "Anarchy in the U.K.," "X Offender" and, now this is strange, three Rezillos' songs, all with pretty accurate basslines.** Ontario Public was As We Know, Monk, and a Bob & Ray LP I can still repeat jokes from; Upland, closest by, was FO'H.
**And "Psycho Killer." My best friend Scott Smith's mother gave piano lessons (I was taking mine at "The Music Merchant" in Montclair Plaza, from a woman who often commented on the length of my eyelashes), and had both a baby grand and a small Wurlitzer in the living room. Scott would get down on the floor and play the bassline on the foot-pedals, while I did the scored guitar part at the piano, and sang, I guess, though I don't know what I did about the French. (This is all a few years before I picked up a guitar.) We also had an original, a fake metal song called "Kill The Blood-Haters," though, given the instrumentation, it sounded more like The Unkowns.
~~~
Speaking of Talking Heads, I think I've just heard what could well be the worst ZE release (008); "Jimmy Igo"/"The Word," a 1978 12" by Last Men. Rock division, not disco at all -- imagine 77 minus imagination re songform, plus blooz gtr on one song and many, many tom fills on both. And lyrics about necrophilia. Not Much Wave?
