Reportaż - Reportaż / Muzika

Label : Tonpress - SX-T 129

Year : 1988

Country : Poland

Format : LP

Back from the dead, to give you some stuff to listen to. 

Maybe, if you want.

Two to make up for my absence with excellent, excellent RIO from Poland. An avant-bordello soundtrack, even. You might have heard these releases somewhere else on the internet but you might just like my rips better.

Here

Label : ADN - 25

Country : Italy

Year : 1987

Format : C60

Here

Iva Bittová & Pavel Fajt - Bittová & Fajt

Label : Bonton - 71 0535-2

Country : Czech Republic

Year : 1997 (1988 orig)

Format : CD

Is there a more dynamic duo in the field of avantgarde reimaginings of cultural folklore? I think not. Truly some beautiful and soulful music, much less of an academic look into this particular world than some takes from their contemporaries; A homely offering.

That isn't to say that the vaguely generalized label I attributed to their so-called "contemporaries" (whom I probably couldn't name in the moment despite being sure of myself) is meant to diminish them in comparison. Tons of great music came from this arena of the avant music scene circa 80s.

You might recall the mesmerizing "Morning Song" from Fred Frith's encapsulating "Step Across The Border" verite film... It's in here!

I apologize a bit for the lack of activity for the past month or so, I got more stuff to post in time.

Here

Legacy Of Sorrow - Discovery

Label : Endemic Music

Country : US

Year : 1988

Format : C70

Back from the grave, just in time for Halloween. Also back from the grave is this, which I thought was lost in the purgatory of shipping and handling. But now it's here and I need to deal with that, and you have a chance to get some listening in.

 If you look in the liner notes, you'll find some familiar names in Bob Drake, Mark Fuller, and Eric Jacabsen. Yes, all three of these men were in Thinking Plague, plus trumpeteur Ron Miles. Musically, it is rather similar to the Plague's signature sound, but without the apathetic beauty of Susanne Lewis' pipes it reminds me a lot of Het. Lots of air in these instruments, and lots of little twists and turns too being a live recording; some familiar and unfamiliar melodies may catch your ears.

Here

Olliwor - To Many Heroes

Label : Das Moniflabel - PP015

Year : 1988

Country : Switzerland

Format : C60

Or is it "OILiwoЯ"? Think Chris Knox further augmented by the Residents and label honcho 

Die Welttraumforscher, and at times antecedent to the utterly unique Svede mrperfect.

Another treat from the welt of Loon:

a previous mystery to me in the Moniflabel catalog, I had only so much information provided to me about the who's and what's of this project; Olliwor Fried is the token.

On this tape, the singularly named Olliwor

plays the browns as it were, a focus on

lowfi pop and the odd interlude

of dreamtime.

My comparisons above were rather immediate connections.

     Very Tall Dwarfs, in an affected English that is. The best parts of this exercise is the bent melodies mixed with

       the discordant synths and fuzzed out geetars. It is rather different from the usual Forscher affair but also very much hereditary, especially based on what I have heard from the early days of the label.

I'm going to continuously seek out as much as I can from Das Moniflabel 

With that, enjoie.

Here

Shrug - Nevil Wanless E.P.

Label : Our Mam's Records - MAM 00001
Country : UK
Year : 1988
Format : LP

I was feeling a bit giddy this weekend and have been making more rips as per usual, so I figured I'd do a special edition: Harmful little Armful. It originally was gonna be a metapost with multiple rips on one post but then a lightning bolt came through the skies and ripped into my head like a thought, "Nutz to that" I say, archaically. Without any further transgression, here's the first approved vinyl rip of the special, twice in a blogtime extra-vagenza.

I was quite fortunate to find this in a Omaha record shop, though not that surprising considering it was one of my favorite stores I have had the pleasure of plunging into. Although when I bought it lacked both a sleeve for the record cover and the record proper, and the cover had an accursed price tag stuck onto its bearings (my feeble attempt of fully removing said sticker without consequence is seen clearly in the top right corner of my scan. Also note the damp 50% isopropyl alcohol stain).

Going back to the music--and really, that's why we're here--I had mentioned I was fortunate to find this, the reason being that I really like these lads' musings. I made a comparison to the incredible Tall Dwarfs of that one island nation, difference being that this clourish originates from that other island nation, the one that once owned that one island nation on some velvet morning. "Shrug", as weathermen do, is an apt name for this kinda music. Totally confounding in an enchanting sense. The organ heavy punk rhythms win me all over.

Here

Expect some more rips later on today and tomorrow, I have some free time left in my body.

Various Artists - Power In The House

Label : Post-Ambient Motion - POSTCASS 002

Country : US

Year : 1988

Format : C90

Another one from the decrepit vault. A benefit compilation of sorts against the demolition of a historic district in Omaha which features many a track from a variety of different in artists in sometimes drastically different fields. From the sound sculptures of Reinhold Marxhausen to the synth funk of Ja'Boi, this a great melange of strange mediocrity. I have the cassette version but it didn't come with a tape, so a kind soul came along and gave me the ripped CD version... in 160kbps.

Can't win 'em all, I guess.

Here

Tome XX - Natura Morta

Label : Jazz Haus Musik - JHM 32 ST

Country : Germany

Year : 1988

Format : LP

I don't know that much about pure jazz, but this is some pretty good avant-jazz with some free inclinations throughout. The copy I got comes with signatures of all the dudes in the band, so that's a plus. Sorry about the pops and clicks, apparently "mint" means something entirely different when imported, at least according to record stores. This also came with an insert in German all about the band itself so I'll be sure to scan that sometime for you all.

Here

Various Artists - Downtown NYC

Label : Virgin Records - 1-90950

Country : US

Year : 1988

Format : LP

The 80s music scene in downtown New York brought a lot of great stuff, including the barrage of eponymous Downtown Music projects, No Wave and other noisy cacophonies. Unfortunately, these scenes are not represented very well here, aside from some more obscure inclusions. It starts off with the title track, a very cheesy eighties anthem about living "downtown". So, yeah.

Some gems are to be found here, though. Tracks such as the second by Mark Johnson, who put out a classic Baroque pop private press album in the 70s. Another highlight is the contributions by Timber side project Rude Buddha and the post-No Wave of Ritual Tension. Some other good things to be found are the minimal synthpop of Soma Holiday and avant-folksong of Songs From A Random House. I don't really care for the rest, sadly. You might, though.

Here

Various Artists - A Consonant Vowel

Label : C.A.G.E. Records

Country : US

Year : 1988

Format : LP

As the year changes, I don't. Another sound art compilation for your ears and, perhaps the intention of the organizers, brain. Like the last post, collage and industrious noise play a prominent role here. This time, it's centered around Ohio-born sound artistry. Seeing as it was released by the "Cincinnati Artist's Group Effort", it makes sense. Ohioans such as John M. Bennett and Charlotte Pressler make an appearance, as well as Cincy groups like Lopez Sophisticates and Contraption #37. Even a Cleveland projects contribute with the Backyard Mechanics for Language (led by Luigi-Bob Drake, who appeared on Put Down Your Pencil). Other than that, artists from different areas also submit their efforts here. These include the late, great Minóy of California and the ephemeral Wisconsin project Qwa Digs Never Parish. I wonder if Charlotte Schmitz is related to K.D. Schmitz. As an aside, making scans for 12'' LP's on a small scanner is a lot harder than it seems. Happy New Year. 

Here

Dennis Báthory-Kitsz - Dentist's Nightmare

Label : Malted/Media Productions

Country : US

Year : 1988

Format : C90

Here

Various Artists - Exquisite Corpses From The Bunker

Label : Heartpunch - 007

Country : US

Year : 1988

Format : LP

Here