VOTD 04/25/2025

 Pere Ubu: Terminal Tower, An Archival Collection (Twin Tone)

Given to me by my friend Mark

I once read that Pere Ubu's David Thomas made (or tried to make) a bet with DEVO who would hit the top 40 first.

It's ridiculous that either of the two bands would ever chart, but of course DEVO had a surprise hit with "Whip It". While outwardly more weird than Pere Ubu, DEVO was more theatrical and obviously tongue-in-cheek. And well, catchier, more of a pop sensibility. Plus they managed to get themselves onto Saturday Night Live. And they were savvy with respect to early music videos. They were naturally the more multimedia of the two groups. 

But what was Pere Ubu by comparison? Darker, more of a garage band but with the strange, warbly vocals of Thomas, and by their second 7" pushed into stranger territory by Allen Ravenstine's homemade modular synthesizers. 

This LP collects their early singles, which amazingly date back to 1975(!), essentially pre-punk rock. From Ohio. Ohio! What the hell was going on in Ohio in that era? Maybe it was the chemicals dumped into the Cuyahoga. Or more likely...the Kent State shooting. People who were attending Kent State during the shooting, if not present at the shooting itself: Mark and Gerald from DEVO, Joe Walsh, Chrissie Hynde, and Chris Butler from Tin Huey/The Waitresses. Did this add a sense of urgency to the region? Or am I attaching meaning to an ultimately meaningless incident? 

I recommend you seek out Derf Backderf's graphic novel Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio. Be warned: you're either going to wind up in tears or hair-tearingly angry at the government, or both. Derf himself was a kid (about my age) when it happened near his home. Oh, AND he attended high school with Jeffrey Dahmer, which he depicts in his graphic novel My Friend Dahmer.

Ohio now is considered the the central moderate/conservative heartland of America. When you start to consider the above, Ohio seems like a far more bizarre place in general, though maybe that's the US in general.

I was born in Akron. Read into that as you will. My father was from Sandusky and attended Kent State.

The record. It traces the development of Ubu as a kind of pre-punk, proto-metal Peter Laughner-led ensemble to a lighter, more surreal sound. Fewer power chords, more space, more vocals, more modular synth. Pre-LP, to The Modern Dance, onto Dub Housing, onto New Picnic Time and Songs of the Bailing Man. Dub Housing is my favorite. It's memorable, but also a straight-forward rock band pulled into alien territory. 

I went to see whoever Pere Ubu was at the Club Cafe, I don't know, 7-8 years ago? David was the only original member.* They were touring on the repertoire of the original Ubu recordings, the Hearthen Records singles (the original singles here) and the first two LPs. David sat the entire time, bottle of wine nearby. He walked offstage at one point, frustrated, but returned. People loved it. The band sounded great, by the way. 

I talked with Tom Moran while I was there. Tom was the guitarist for The Five, arguably the best band from Pittsburgh to emerge from the punk scene.** I'd had little interaction with Tom previously, but we knew who each other was, and we live in the same neighborhood. He told me how Larence Goodby played him Pere Ubu's The Modern Dance and that they declared, "We want to be this band!" and The Five was initiated. I can see the influence, once he mentioned it. 

Ubu didn't play everything off this album, most significantly lacking "Final Solution". In retrospect it's an unfortunate title for a song about teen angst, was Thomas himself would note. Too bad, it's a good song.

This album works as a document of the development of Pere Ubu in its initial years.  As such, you hear how the sound changes with the changes in personnel. In other words, it's a great document but not a cohesive album statement. 

My friend Mark saw David Thomas perform in the late 80s, bought this LP from him, and had him sign it. David asked, "What do you want? A dog, a dinosaur?" Mark asked for a dinosaur. David's scribbling image looks like just that, a scribble. He gave it to me later. 

David Thomas died this week at 71. I would have guessed older. I was once mistaken for David, the account of which you can read on my Facebook page. Sorry you're gone David; if there's an afterlife, I hope you're happy. "It's just a joke, man!"

* It has occurred to me that I've seen at least three bands with only a single original member: Pere Ubu, Yes, and most recently Kraftwerk. If I think of others, I'll write about it

** Tom said to me, "We heard Pere Ubu and we wanted to be that band. Then we moved to Boston and we wanted to be Aerosmith!"

VOTD 04/18/2025

 Maury Coles: Maury Coles' Solo Saxophone Record (Onari)

Purchased at Jerry's Records

Who's Maury Coles? No clue! (And no intention at the moment of Wikipediaizing him.) But a solo saxophone record, used at Jerry's, on a Canadian label, from the 1970s, sounds like a win/win/win/win to me. 

I've considered releasing a solo saxophone album myself, which I guess I should just do and stop thinking about. Something limited run, maybe a custom lathe-cut printing in a small number. Just do it already, Ben.

As Mike Shanley has pointed out, solo saxophone albums are often a catalog of so-called extended techniques, all the "other" sounds the saxophone can produce besides standard notes and pitches. There's a hazard to that: is it just showing off the weird sounds you can make? At the same time, you can say it's all part of the vocabulary of the instrument: every whine, wheeze, fart, squeak, squeal, split tone, is part of the instrument as much as the "notes." Of all the solo saxophone recordings I have, it's Roscoe Mitchell's that is curiously the most traditionally "notey", blowing solo on melodies of his creation. 

Maury finds a place in the middle: sometimes melodic, sometimes playing on the sonic potential of the alto saxophone. Notably, this was recorded Nov. 5 1977 at the Music Gallery than none other than John Oswald himself. I still have a cassette of John's solo saxophone playing, which is some of the most extreme that I've heard. 

This is the only alum that comes up under Maury's name, with just four other credits on other people's sessions. Seems like a shame, the solo album is worthy of a listen. 

VOTD 04/17/2025

 Andrew Lloyd Webber: Requiem (Angel)

Purchased (sealed) at the Jerry's Records dollar sale

Steve Lacy once said: never listen to bad music. If you're at a concert and it's bad, walk out. 

So why the hell am I listening to an Andrew Lloyd Webber record?

Partially it's been my interest in requiems (requia?) in past couple of years, and curiosity about how he would do it. I think it's also healthy to sometimes try to analyze why you don't like something. It's not enough to say "it sucks" but to understand what is it that you don't like. Maybe it's the inherent educator in me. I always wrote off Wendy Carlos' Switched On Bach as being kitsch; in some ways I still do. But I started to study the album more closely, and found characteristics to appreciate. The Moog patch development is pretty amazing at times. The performances are all pre-MIDI overdubbed tracks, which makes the playing impressive. It's not as simple as, "this is silly." 

So we find ALW in a serious mood here, his "serious" music. Can't fault a guy for trying. I'm listening to this without reading up on it, what circumstances led to this work. I assume it was a commission, but if it wasn't? Good for him to working on it. There's an all-star cast: Placido Domingo (whose name is conspicuously top billing), Sarah Brightman (I guess she was married to ALW at the time) and Lorin Maazel (from Pittsburgh!). 

What of the music? I find moments that I enjoy, when ALW goes briefly polychordal or major 9ths (but never full-out atonal). It's generally quite conservative major/minor composing, but I expected nothing else. I'd say it's no less daring than your average Broadway musical really. 

There's an organist credited, James Lancelot. I don't know, it seems too...obvious? Churchy music involving an organ?

Maybe I'm saying, the music offers few surprises except for a few unexpected harmonies. It's darker at the start, uplifting at the end, much as you'd expect. It's impeccably performed, but that's what money will get you. 

This cost me a dollar, so curiosity satisfied, cheap. 

VOTD 04/15/2025

 Goblin: The Other Hell soundtrack (Cinevox)

Purchased at Eides, new

I've written in the past that I know this blog is some degree of music commentary and sometimes analysis, some history, but also there's an autobiographical component too. I suppose if you should happen to find me interesting, that's fine. 

I've been putting a lot of things on hold until the university semester ends. It's felt like a weight on me but my teaching schedule is done at the end of next week, unusually early. Despite this, I've found time to at least accept gigs, do a couple of at-home punch-in recordings for other people, and occasionally check in here. And of course do things I generally enjoys such as dropping by the library and various record stores.

I didn't make a big rush for Record Story Day, even if I bought three things released that day. I've previously written the other two. I had the highest hope for this one, while at the same time wondering about the nature of it. Goblin was responsible for some exceptional soundtrack work: Suspiria, Deep Red, the European cut of Dawn of the Dead. So why hadn't this soundtrack turned up before? I don't profess to be a Goblin expert but a solid work from the early 80s would be in demand for release, seemed to me. 

Reading into it now, I see this is made up of cues and outtakes from other films: Buio Omega, Patrick, and  Il Fantastico Viaggio del Bagarozzo Mark. Thankfully I have none of those on vinyl (I've seen the first two around) so all the music is new to me. I noticed while watching the laughable Contamination that the soundtrack credited to Goblin was at least in part lifted from Dawn of the Dead. I can't point a finger at the Italians for cost-cutting moves, since it's thoroughly part of the American tradition of exploitation filmmaking as well. 

What sets Suspiria apart from the others is its intensity and atmosphere. It's bigger, louder, creepier, noisier. Dawn has a real drive to it to be sure, but Suspiria feels like an experience. The music here is solid late 70s instrumental prog rock veering slightly into fusion territory, sometimes sounding a little like the Bruford band circa One of a Kind (sans Allan Holdsworth).

I don't often comment on this, but the pressing (at least on side one) is terrible. There's a general noise to the vinyl which isn't so noticeable when the music is turned up, but takes over on fade outs and between cuts. Ugh. Do better! Maybe it didn't need to be fuchsia-colored vinyl. And with such great examples of original cover art on Mondo/Death Waltz and Waxworks soundtrack labels, the cover here looks slapdash. Sounds like trying to earn that RSD coin to me, even if the music itself is pretty good.

VOTD 04/14/2025

 Mitch & Ira Yuseph: 7 Doors of Death soundtrack (Grindhouse Releasing)

Purchased new at Eide's

I guess I get a little sucked into to Record Store Day myself, but there's a good chance I might have bought this even without the hype sticker calling out, "2025 RSD Exclusive/BLOOD SHOT RED VINYL/Limited to 1000 copies". 

7 Doors of Death is an American video release of Lucio Fulci's The Beyond. Some consider it Fulci's best work. His horror films are graphically brutal, even if some of the effects look fake. Even his more Giallo-ish titles such as The Psychic and Don't Torture a Duckling each have one brutal effect, such as a man's face getting ripped off after jumping from a cliff. Fulci reveled in showing nasty, graphic details. 

It's not a plot-driven film, to be sure. A woman inherits an old New Orleans hotel, which we discover (not a big spoiler here) sits on one of the seven doors to the gates of Hell. Weird and deadly occurrences ensue: eye gouging! Throat ripping! Tarantulas, um, tarantulaing! And possibly most shocking of all, a teen girl's head gets blown open with a shotgun. The last one might have been a problem for some regions and countries, and I can't guarantee it's in the American cut given its R rating. 

I didn't always say I engaged in good taste, though I definitely have my limits. Italian cannibal films are not my thing (just too cruel and ugly), I have no interest in The Human Centipede, and I know enough to not see A Serbian Film. Despite all the grossness of The Beyond, I have an issue with it that's almost laughable. There's a really nasty basement that a plumber has to enter to unclog some pipes. (It doesn't end well for him.) Having lived in Baton Rouge, I thought, there are no basements in New Orleans!

Roger Ebert gave the movie a 1/2 star review out of four, ranking it higher than Freddy Got Fingered or Rob Reiner's North. Or for that matter Caligula or I Spit on Your Grave. He was notoriously unsympathetic to most horror films, but far less than even Gene Siskel, who found The Silence of the Lambs to be too much. 

So what of the 7 Doors score? It has moments but Fabio Frizzi's original score is markedly better: more interesting, more eerie. (I have a copy of that too, it's possible I've even blogged about it before.) The Yusephs rework ideas over a little too much for my taste. It's very keyboard-oriented, synths, acoustic piano, snare drum (sampled?). There's atmosphere at times, but I just don't understand why the Frizzi score had to be replaced.

I'm seeing on imdb.com that the American theatrical release had its own composer, Walter E. Spear. It really begs of the question of why? I know...surely it has to come down to money. Probably licensing. Not paying for the original score. But then why commission a new score? I don't get it. We'll probably see Spear's score released on vinyl at some point too. 

VOTD 04/13/2025

 The Residents: Leftovers Again?! Again!?! (Again) (New Ralph Too)

Purchased new at The Attic

Back for one more feeding, I suppose. I can't complain about what's left of The Residents for picking through their archives and releasing more demos and unused material. I seem to shell out for at least some of it. I can't say any of has exactly blown me away, though there have been a few nice surprises. While rough and incomplete, a pre-version of Not Available was included in the pREServed 2CD edition that was worth a listen.

This series is various odds and ends that were supposedly rediscovered. I mean, with all thing Residents, we have only their word about these things. But it makes sense: Homer Flynn has just turned 80 this past week, and my guess is he's cleaning house. And I don't question that for a long time it was a struggle, so he deserves to earn from that.

This edition, the third in a supposed trilogy, mines material from the mid to late1980s. I've probably previously gone on about this, but it's the time when I start to lose interest in their music. I missed the awful saxophone playing, the out of tune piano, and unusual atmospheres and production. Replaced was a reliance on new sampling technology. That's not necessarily bad in itself. Their EP Intermission, the first to make extensive use of the E-mu Emulator,  makes some of the most interesting use of sampling on their records in my opinion. One can even hear the improvement in the quality of the technology over the course of this LP. That is to say, unless you like the sound of early samplers because they do sound old and cheap, or at lest antiquated. 

In particular, this LP opens with four track by The Big Bubble, The Residents' fictitious band from their Mole Trilogy narrative. It's demos of Homer and Hardy, sounding like works in development for the 13th Anniversary Tour, sans Snakefinger.

Odder is "Jazz Album Experiment", which of course sounds not a bit like jazz in the least. And I'm fine with fake jazz, that's what John Lurie called Lounge Lizards (even though it wasn't necessarily accurate). Their American Composers series, having reworked Gershwin, Sousa, Hank Williams and James Brown, supposedly was going to move on to Sun Ra next. Maybe it could have been great, who can say?

Well, leftovers aren't so bad really.

VOTD 04/04/2025

 H.N.A.S: Küttel Im Frost (Dom)

Purchased new at Eides, back in the day

There are several categories I have for filing my LPs. There's a general section, jazz/rock/pop artists (I know that labels don't always work, but I know what's what), another section for "classical" artists with a subsection for LPs on the Mainstream label produced by Earle Brown, a separate section for electronic specific artists, a bin for compilations, a section for soundtrack music, another for evangelical preacher LPs and other weirdness.

And finally, a section to expensive records. Records that could at least be sold for $75 each and often for far more. 

If you collect something, don't you thrill at the idea of scoring something that is valuable that nobody else knows about? I definitely have something of a hoarder gene, which I've tried to quell in more recent years. Nonetheless, I am always sniffing out vinyl treasures if nothing else. This has become exceedingly difficult in this age of discogs.com and other online resources.

I knew about H.N.A.S (Hirsche Nicht Aufs Sofa) because they released an LP on United Dairies, the Steven Stapleton/Nurse With Wound label. I was an active collector in those days. Anything UD or UD-tangential, I bought it up. Eide's Entertainment, in their old location on the Northshore of Pittsburgh was a primary source. (The cite, an old house, is around where the Roberto Clemente sculpture now stands). Later it was along Penn Avenue between 9th Street and the now convention center. Later, further up Penn Avenue past the bus station, and then two door over from that. It's a long long story, beyond what I've written.

Back in the old Northshore/Northside days. Gregg Kostelich was the record buyer. He knew if he filled his stock with the most bizarre and obscure titles, one person (usually me or about two or three others) would be excited to buy those things. 

And that's how I came to buy this LP. I remember parts of it, particularly the first ten minutes, so I'm certain I played it more than once on WRCT. The general edition is 400 copies and of some value, hence its inclusion in my "valuable LP" section. 

In general it has clicks and pops, so it must have received some play in general in my house. How to describe it? Wacky sound experiments, half-songs with half-musique concrete studies, and lots of "let's see what happens." Does this represent a by-gone age? A time when you could release an LP of sound experiments and be taken seriously by Op Magazine, or its offspring Option of Sound Choice? (The former lasted much longer than the latter, but basically went commercial. Sellouts.) 

This was all stirred because Christoph Heemann, half of H.N.A.S, is booked to play the Rock Room in Pittsburgh in a few weeks. The Rock Room is scuzziest space I can imagine. Yes I've played there. I'm not proud. 

If I make it (good likelihood) I have one or two LPs I want him to sign.