Tony Coulter here, speaking to you from the ever-receding past (Wednesday evening to be exact). As happens ever other week, I've laid out before you an assortment of sounds recently found, and of sights that have been with me a little longer -- for me, sight moves slower than sound.
Before the tell-and-show commences, let me just thank Cozmic Eddie, occasional guest-host of KPSU's Psychedelic Renaissance, for the loan of two of the audio oddities found below.
And now ... dig in!
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Universe: s/t (PBR International, 1977)
The first of two emanations from Cozmic Eddie is decidedly cosmic in ambition: the sole LP from the duo known as "Universe," comprised of Gary Paul Van (lead vocals, keyboards) and Dennis Lew Askew (guitars). The band's cosmology is a little hard to unravel, as it seems to be one part Jesus, and one part outer space, and touches on things like the "Ancient of Days" and the "Orchid of Crucifixion" (whatever that means). Sound-wise, Messrs Van and Askew (could the latter be related to the great Ed Askew?) truck in enthusiastic and somewhat over-the-top prog psych. Indeed, I've given you what is perhaps the album's most restrained number.
Star-crossed:
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Aim: For the Highest (Blue Thumb, 1974)
The next band also located themselves amongst the stars -- at least on the cover of their 1974 LP, For the Highest. The overall sound, however, is decidedly earthbound and commercial hard rock. I've always been a sucker, though, for the anomalous "sensitive" tracks that often pop up on even rather pedestrian hard rock albums -- and indeed a fine one shows up here. Such tracks can be seen either as letting the mask of machismo slip ... or as making a marketing play for the girls. Either way, the "sensitive" track on this album, "Endlessly," written by lead vocalist/guitarist Michael W. Overly, gains distinction from keyboardist Loren Newkirk's prominent harpsichord part.
Drink deeply of mine eyes:
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Flexible Flyer: s/t (CIS Northwest, 1981)
Up next is a local, small-label release by a band from Bend, Oregon. Flexible Flyer, at least on this album, seemed largely to have been a vehicle for songwriter Tom Galvin, who doesn't actually appear on the record at all, either as a performer or a producer. Overall, the album is a bit of an unfocused grab-bag of styles, and, in truth, only the cut I've given you holds much appeal for me. That AOR-ish track, "Ten Years Blind," is a bit off, somehow -- both lyrically and musically -- but also oddly fascinating ... at least to my AOR-addled brain.
Leaping logo:
Flexible Flyer: Ten Years Blind
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Lindy Michaels: Ragamuffin Child (Vault, 1968)
And now we come to the second of two contributions from Cozmic Eddie, this one highlighted by a unique track that should come in handy for anyone currently in medical school! The cut in question, "Communicable Diseases," which you'll find below, was written by the album's arranger/producer, Ed Michael -- who was either a hypochondriac or fresh out of lyrical ideas.
The Ragamuffin:
Lindy Michaels: Communicable Diseases
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Munju: Sport Rock (Fricchetti, 198?)
We now switch gears -- stylistically and geographically -- and close the audio portion of this post with two early '80s cassettes from Germany. Both reflect the attempt to transition from '70s krautrock to '80s Neue Deutsche Welle -- or at least to assimilate the new into the old. The first cassette is from the band Munju, whose began life in 1976 as a krautrock-y jazz/fusion band and then morphed into something located more in the Rock in Opposition axis. The obscure early '80s release I've given you two cuts from shows them leavening their sound with a bit of post-punk, though their progginess is certainly still very much in evidence.
Peaking underneath the shell:
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Logic Animal: Demokassette (no label, 198?)
The second German cassette -- which is also the last audio tidbit of the day -- is a demo containing four untitled tracks that as far as I know were never released. The two members of Logic Animal, Edgar Hofmann and Roman Bunka, have deep krautrock roots indeed, as both were in the long-lived group Embryo. I'd guess the tracks on this demo were recorded in the mid-'80s, judging from the drum machine sound and the use of a sampler. Whenever they're from they're rather unique in a slightly lumbering way and quite intense -- a bit frightening even. It's a pity indeed that Logic Animal ended up stillborn.
Edgar Hofmann: Roman Bunka:
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Now it's time to finish up with some items from my bookshelf -- none of which I've actually read. I have nothing to add to the pictures themselves except to say that the unbuttoned blond on the cover of Joseph Milton's The Big Blue Death seems remarkably inattentive to her circumstances.
Mark Derby: Echo of a Bomb (Bantam Books, 1958)
Art: ??
*****
R. T. Larkin: The Godmother (New English Library, 1973)
Photo: Keef
*****
Joseph Milton: The Big Blue Death (Lancer Books, 1965)
Art: ??
*****
John Trinian: A Game of Flesh (Lancer Books, 1963)
Art: ??
*****
Dan Rader: Lez on Wheels (Dragon Editions, 1965)
Photo: ??
*****
Dr. Friedrich Damaskow: Fetischismus: Abart oder Stimulans? (Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, 1972)
Art: ??
*****
John Whitlatch: Lafitte's Legacy (Pocket Books, 1971)
Art: ??
*****
Richard Hubbard: The Jesus Freaks (Pyramid Books, 1972)
Art: ??
*****
Hugh Pentecost: A Plague of Violence (Pinnacle Books, 1974)
Art: ??
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That's it for now -- see you in two weeks.
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