VOTD 06/30/2025

 Ethel Merman: The Ethel Merman Disco Album (A&M)

Purchased through discogs.com

This time! A record I'm proud to admit that I'm embarrassed to own!

I enjoy the hunt with respect to records, used records in particular. I'm intentionally trying to limit my buying since I own so many of the things, but it doesn't stop me from looking. I try not to engage in vinyl envy when a friend makes a good score. Good for them. I can only think of a few things I'd be truly jealous that someone else found.

While I never actively sought out this vinyl oddity, it never seemed to cross my path either. I've been aware of it for many years. A few years back when I mentioned its very existence to my wife, her reaction was, find a copy!

Here's where discogs.com comes in. It's an immense resource. It also means everyone in the world can see what other people have paid for records on their site, thus generally pushing up the prices in the brick and mortar used record stores. It's increasingly difficult to make amazing scores, but then that's still the thrill of the hunt, isn't it?

So: Ethel Merman's disco LP, checkout, sent to my house in a few days. Done, easy peasy. Thankfully not expensive too, I didn't really want to spend $20 on this.

If I told my 16 year old self I'd be buying a disco album, let alone this piece of kitsch, I think he'd be surprised and disappointed. I was definitely in the "disco sucks" crowd, though I didn't hang with the metal crowd either. That said, "Disco Inferno" made for a good marching band arrangement which we played for two years. I can picture my band director harumphing at the very idea of having to pay for the arrangement. 

Some of my attitude was unquestionably the hubris of youth and inexperience. There was a significant amount of 70s African American dance music/funk (for as little of it as I heard) that I wrote off at the time as disco that I love now. (Parliament is most definitely not disco.) If you didn't live through that time, you'd have no idea how ubiquitous the disco craze was. Even straight forward rock stations would program tracks from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. It was inescapable for a few years. 

When I listen to these things now, it's a mixed reaction. For starters, I admire that these are full bands executing these arrangements to perfection. Not easy. I count twelve session players on this album, including the familiar names of Bud Shank and Ernie Watts*, in addition to an unnamed orchestra. One track uses an additional six background vocalists. That takes a budget of both time and money. Charts have to be written, though I'm sure there was very little rehearsal time. Everyone gets paid, and overtime costs extra. Execute or else. 

On the other hand, everything is the same tempo. Most disco songs are a uniform speed. Fine for dancing, especially there's a particular set of prepared disco moves you've prepared. Less interesting for listening. Four to the floor kick drum, snare on two and four, period. 

The arrangements sound like most big disco productions you've heard and leaning towards what I suppose is corniness. They're working with Ethel Merman doing old show tunes, so you can imagine how the arranger treats "Alexander's Ragtime Band" disco-style.

Ethel soldiers through this and is constantly on mark. One can imagine what she thought of the entire project. It's a gig, right? My understanding is that the choice and order of songs was based on her show: she would do this program in this order as a standard presentation, so the arrangers had to work with that unyielding structure. Perhaps this is legend, but my understanding is that she came in and blew everything down in a single take. What a pro!

Apart from the general silliness of the project, some of the songs lend themselves less effectively to disco-ization than others. "Everything's Coming Up Roses" should have been 1/3 faster, but Ethel has to stretch the lines to accommodate the standard disco tempo. Some of the other songs similarly stretch the vocal line.

"I Got Rhythm" starts with a slower, quiet introduction before kicking into the beat. "I Will Survive" was released the year before and was a monster hit, so I wonder if the arrangers thought they'd catch some of that for Ethel?

Representing disco in our household is this, the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack (I held it back when I sold off my wife's small record collection), the Andrea True Connection's More More More**, and an all-Christmas disco LP. What better way to clear your family out of the house after a holiday dinner than play that?

* I find Ernie Watts' appearance on this at least amusing. There was hardly any public figure who was more anti-disco than Frank Zappa, seeing it as some sort of social control construct or something. Ernie appeared about seven years earlier on Frank's The Grand Wazoo, and played the "mystery horn" (a C melody saxophone?). I like that there's a single degree of separation between this and Zappa. 

Frank would complain about punk rock a few years later. I love much of his music but he could be such a downer. 

** This is one of three connections I know between 70s disco and hardcore porn films. Who knows, this could be a topic for a future posting. 

VOTD 06/23/2026

 NON: Pagan Muzak (Greybeat)

Purchased through eBay

This blog is something of a diversion, a trifle, a shade frivolous. I've been both intending to, and questioning, whether I should write about this and similar records. Here goes. 

There are some records that, if someone looked them over after I'm gone, I might have felt embarrassment. I don't mean The Ethel Merman Disco Album, which I freely admit I own. 

So what is there to be embarrassed by this record? Its appearance doesn't seem to be outrageous: a front image of some sort of tomb or temple lined with skulls, the back a single image of the artist, all in stark black and white.

And the record itself is novel: a 7" album housed in a 12" cover, with seventeen lock grooves one side one, repeated on side two. Playable at any speed. Standard 33+1/3 sounds right, the tracks largely like machine sounds. To be played loud. A hole drilled off center for off-axis playback. 

In other words, a very novel release, quite original in its presentation and performance, in ways that I've seen repeated since. The RRR-100 7" has fifty lock grooves on each side (I happen to be one of them), one hundred artists represented. RRRecords upped the ante with RRR-500, five hundred artists in toto on a 12" LP. RRR-1000 takes it even further, though I understand there are tracking issues with that one depending on your turntable. 

My friend tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE released an LP with an off-axis hole cut. I wouldn't accuse him of aping NON, just that it's a similar technique. He's also released an album with multiple lock grooves.

So why am I potentially embarrassed to own this record?

NON is one Boyd Rice. NON is the "band" name for his noise-oriented projects. There are many (and often conflicting) reports about Boyd: that he can be great company, engaging, funny. A well-documented prankster, lover of EZ listening records. He was also supposedly an absentee father to a special needs child, a "Men's Rights" advocate, priest in the Church of Satan. There's a video of him happily talking to American White Nationalist Tom Metzger about how you never see black people at his noise concerts. An asshole Fascist/White Nationalist.

Allegedly. Allegedly allegedly allegedly. I don't know any of these things first hand, though I have watched the Metzger video, easily found on Youtube. You have access to Google, look for yourself.

I first came to know about Boyd through the Re/Search Industrial Culture Handbook. In some ways I was most impressed with him, because (according to the text) he had the purest of intentions: he enjoyed noise music, and the sound of things like skipping records. None of the neo-paganism of Genesis P-Orridge, or the occultism of Z'ev, or systems paranoia of SPK. Someone who enjoyed creating and listening to noise. To me, that's a high calling; if you don't find music you want to hear, make it yourself. That in itself is honorable.

Since the time I bought this record (a prize in my eyes at the time), I've seen too much evidence of his fascist leanings. Is it all a joke to him? The fact of him recording with Death In June (known to be Nazi sympathizers) doesn't help his case. But what do I know?

There are many examples of bands/artists playing with fascist and even Nazi imagery. Sometimes ironically, sometimes not, and sometimes who knows? I'm thinking of a tape released by Ramleh on Broken Flag records, Rockwell Hate. It uses an audio letter sent by George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party, to his followers. The cassette is played while the band provides a backdrop of blistering power electronics. My sense is that it's a joke, that they're making fun of that racist moron by supplying a backdrop of the ultimate entartete musik. Hitler would have never approved.

That's just my intuition, but again, what do I really know? If I'm proven wrong I will happily rescind my comments. I face the fact that it might become necessary for me to remove this posting. 

I'm also thinking of Sid Vicious wearing a swastika t-shirt. I'm certain he just wanted to outrage people. 

So where am I left with Boyd Rice and NON records? Isn't the history of the arts filled with shitty people? Gesualdo murdered his wife in cold blood, as I've written here before. That happened four and a quarter centuries ago. At the time terrible; now, an interesting footnote? And what of Miles Davis' and Charles Mingus' know abuse of women?

Nonetheless, I just don't think I can abide by what could be Boyd's racist and fascist leanings. I hate to waffle on things like this; it's just that the facts are murky.

I should probably sell this. Too bad, I love weird lock groove records like this. 

CDOTD 06/18/2026

 James Crabb & Geir Daruagvoll: Duos for Classical Accordions (EMI Classics)

This was a promo copy I claimed when I worked at Borders

"Welcome to Heaven! Here's your harp! Welcome to Hell! Here's your accordion!"

Stupid old joke. Truth is both instruments are beautiful in each its own way. If anything I find the accordion more confounding. How does anyone play the damned thing, especially the non-twelve tone keyboard right hand, button box concert accordion?

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice practice practice. Another old joke. 

Furthermore, the accordion can be highly expressive, something that's not built into the harp. Oh, it's expressive in an ensemble when you need that run of plucked notes. But the harp has hardly any dynamic range, unlike the accordion which can be gentle or aggressive. 

When I worked at Borders in the mid-90s, interest in CDs was at its height, or just cresting. DVDs were just being introduced. The store was not allowed to sell the promotional copies of CDs we received, so as a worker you could claim discs for yourself when they had outlived their purpose. There are a few amazing discs I got this way: Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting an all-Bernard Herrmann recording, historic recordings of Dock Boggs, this, others I'm forgetting. We'd claim discs by putting a Post-It note with our name on the cover. Most of us were respectful; I didn't try to claim a Boyz II Men disc just because I knew I could sell it (a not-so-open secret among workers). 

And who besides me was going to claim a CD of classical duets of accordion music? Only someone who intended to sell it later, if they could. And, the program! Duo accordions Stravinsky's Petrushka, Tango, and top it off with Pictures at an Exhibition. Hella yeah! 

I chose this disc without resorting to my randomizer, because yesterday was Stravinsky's birthday. 

As Petrushka plays, I find myself missing Stravinsky's orchestral colors. He was a solid and interesting orchestrator. Inversely, the accordion does have a way of bringing out the clownishness. Some of the work sounds perfectly suited for this format. What it's not missing is content. Two accordions, four hands, that covers a lot of ground. And it's probably more engaging than a two piano arrangement of the same piece, which I think exists. 

In my mind, I'm imagining Stravinsky hearing this and writing something specifically for duo accordions. I'm sure he would have challenged them, and more likely than not it would have been great.

Tango in this orchestration is great too. Makes me wish I could see this, in a concert hall, in the front row. Feel those accordion bellows physically. 

My understanding of Pictures at an Exhibition is that Mussorgsky himself intended to orchestrate the work, but didn't live to see it through. Ravel's orchestration is the famous one but not the only; I once heard a radio performance of a Stokowski orchestration. It seemed like a pale version compared Ravel; if anything, a lesser response to Maurice's work. 

I miss the colors of Ravel's orchestration, this is still amazing in some parts. While I appreciate Ravel's use of alto saxophone on "The Old Castle", it sounds great on two accordions. Respect.

I'm hopeless as a keyboardist in any respect. Ten thumbs. I love the piano, and there's so much incredible music written for it. But I would give serious consideration to being an accordionist given the chance. 

VOTD 06/13/2025

 Frank Zappa: Jazz From Hell (Barking Pumpkin)

Purchased from Leechpit Records, Colorado Springs

I remember when this record arrived at WRCT, 1986. There's a listing for the musicians on the back cover. I don't think I understood then how sequenced this album sounds now. 

It's so tight, like a noose around a neck. (Hyperbole?) Frank always wanted absolute perfection in his musicians' performances. But what does that mean? What is perfection? And does the pursuit of perfection impede the possibility of expression?

In some ways, this album sounds dated to me. By sounding clean and "modern", he dates the LP to a certain time period. Early digital, transferred to analog playback.

I have really tried to appreciate and listen to Frank's Synclavier albums. Really. Are they a true reflection of Frank's vision? Or, just maybe, they're mechanized simulacrum of really good bands he's led? 

Jesus Christ. The second and third cuts on side one are...boring. And track four isn't much better. But I recognize that I'm hearing this after years of teaching MIDI sequencing techniques.

So what stands out? "Night School" and "G-Spot Tornado", the opening cuts on sides one and two, at least aren't boring. The latter sounds hyper-sequenced, but at least it's at the service of a lively composition. An arrangement played live appears on The Yellow Shark. I'd recommend that album over this one. 

I'm listening to side two of this album, and for crying out loud it can be annoying. There's some sonic and mental relief on side two, track three: "St. Etienne". Frank solos over a one-two chord as he often did. This is probably where the back cover credits enter into the picture.

I must say...for all of Frank's seeking of musical perfection at a micro-level, he probably understood the beauty of a flexible, in-tune, lean band. At least I hope. Personalities! Or was perfection too important to him? I guess we won't know. 

When I bought this at Leech Pit Records in Colorado Springs, I also bought the two-CD Civilzation Phase III. I generally don't like Frank's Synclavier-based albums, but...who knows?

CDOTD 06/01/2025

Sons of Ra: Standard Deviation (The Laser's Edge)

Purchased new from the band

I have to say, it takes some balls to call yourself Sons of Ra. Evokes you-know-who. 

I opened for them at Bantha Tea Bar in the Garfield neighborhood last week. It's a tiny space, never meant to contain a band that sounds this big. I did an opening duet set with Patrick Breiner. Patrick told Manny Theiner to give his fee to that headliner. I took my $15 and bought their current CD with it. Patrick's a mensch beyond mensch, does that make me a jerk?

Manny described them as being like Last Exit, the heavy hitting supergroup of Peter Brotzmann, Sonny Sharrock, Bill Laswell, and Ronald Shannon Jackson. I'd say...maybe not so much, but I'm interested in revisiting that group. I'd say closer to Sonny Sharrock's Ask the Ages, but that album's such a classic, that's not fair either. 

It's not exactly jazz, SOR are mostly a power trio with the bassist doubling on saxophone. I hope I don't sound cynical when I say, they get a lot of mileage out of their reverb effects, on a similar way to Killing Joke. But far more jazzy.

Opening the disc and the concert: a take on Coltrane's "Alabama". I say, be careful. That's a powerful work. 

They performed well, but the pieces come off more effectively in studio versions. Less muddy, partly due to the space. My own experience recording is the opposite: it's very difficult to capture the live essence in the studio. When they need power chords, it comes through clearly on record. There's also a lot more saxophone here than I remember in concert. 

I can't help but turn this inwards. Is this better than the second CD by my old band Water Shed 5tet? In general, probably yes, but I think my album was more original. Give the kids a break though, they're working hard and more dedicated to touring and promotion than I'm capable. 

And I'll probably sound like a jerk but, listening to them, I felt like I could do something similar but better. Sons of Ra, should you read this, prove me wrong! I'm a battered-down old man clinging to relevancy. Nonetheless, you do have room to grow. 

CDOTD 05/27/2025

Ennio Morricone: Queimada OST (GDM)

Borrowed from the library

More Morricone. I've long claimed Bernard Herrmann to be my favorite film composer. So why all the Morricone? His stock has risen to me in more recent years, and there's certainly no lack of albums to buy. If he scored approximately 500 films, how many of those have never seen release? Surely at least a few, to speak nothing of out-of-print titles.

Queimada (released as Burn! in English, the title itself meaning "burned" in Portuguese) stars Marlon Brando. Interesting. Brando's so well know for particular films: On the Waterfront, Last Tango in Paris, The Godfather, Apocalypse Now!, even the disaster that is The Island of Dr. Moreau. But what about this? Or the awkwardly titled The Night of the Following Day? Or The Ugly American, Moritori, The Teahouse of the August Moon? 

I've never seen any of those. Maybe they're good, I don't know. When you star in several movies that make many people's short lists of greatest-of-all-time, there could be good work that goes less recognized. Or maybe not, maybe they're garbage. I have seen Candy in which he plays...an Indian guru I guess? It's pretty forgettable.

What do you expect from a Morricone soundtrack? Wordless vocals? Check. (It doesn't sound like Edda Del'Orsso in this case.) Some classical strains? In plentitude. Some tension-ratcheting harmonies? Yes definitely, an early track on the CD being a great example. There's also a piece here with figures looping in different meters, something I've heard in his work before too. The opening sounds, I don't know, very 1960s to me. Considering it was 1969, that comes as no surprise. 

Like many complete soundtrack albums, this is longer than it needs to be from a purely listening standpoint. But you know, it's the complete document, as it should be. 

Once again I am grateful for a good public library with an excellent music and media division. You can check out video games there! Not that I have ever owned a game console, besides our family Atari in 1980. I used to wipe out my Dad at Tank Battle. He thought maybe I had an advantage being left-handed. (Nope. The joystick was right-handed. I was just younger, better reflexes, and and knew how to shoot him down after recovering from the previous shot.)

VOTD 05/26/2025

 Revolutionary Ensemble: The Psyche (RE: Records)

Purchased used from Mike Shanley

Randomizer/limiter: R S, vinyl.

Mike can be a bit of a vinyl/CD hustler. I think I bought two different Ligeti CD boxes from him. On another occasion I came to his house to check over some vinyl he was looking to sell. He's bought several whole collections; in one case, the collection yielded a copy of The Five's first 7" "Napalm Beach". I'm determined not to feel jealousy over other peoples' finds, but that's a good one.

I was making a fast dig through some of his shelves (there was a LOT to look over) and this caught my attention. Yeah, I'd like to hear that. 

I bought this, two Stormy Six records, and one or two other things for $75. He mentioned something about the going price. (High price on discogs is currently $65, and this copy if very clean.) I shrugged my shoulders, just interested in the information contained in the grooves. I guess he figured cash in hand was better than waiting to sell it for more. Plus, you know, I actually have listened to the god damned thing haven't I?

I'm not immune or disassociated from the after market cost of these records. I knew I hadn't seen this before and didn't really have a sense of how much it might be worth, though I guess I knew it was rare. I wasn't looking to shaft Mike in any way, just listen to this piece of history I hadn't experienced before. 

And what a time. 1975, Nixon was freshly out of office, the Vietnam War was winding down, and there's still a lot of anger over racial injustice. The Revolutionary Ensemble lineup itself is somewhat pushing against conventions: violin/viola, bass, drums/piano. Leroy Jenkins and Jerome Cooper had previously worked together in a quartet with Anthony Braxton and Leo Smith, which took the idea of "energy music" into a different direction than Albert Ayler or Cecil Taylor (dissipation as opposed to concentration). 

This gets energetic, though. Maybe not the intensity of a Peter Brotzmann album, but they hammer it out towards the end of side one as well as a violin/bass/drums trio can.

The album has three compositions, one each from the members. Side one's "Invasion" by Jerome Cooper ends very abruptly. It's 26 minutes 15 seconds. It's like an engineer said, "I can give you 26:15 and not a second more!" and held to it. The sound quality in general is clear but on the raw side, rather like you're in the room with them. Good.

Sometimes I'd love to hear a saxophone in here, but that wouldn't be so revolutionary, would it?

What can I say, it's a worthy listen if you can find it. I think this is the only LP they self-released, with their mailing address on the back.