One of the more fascinating records in the endless pile of weirdness that flowed into WFMU's PO box this month was the Roots of Madness reissue LP, recently put out on Minnesota's DeStijl label in conjunction with the Child of Microtones imprint (run by the Tower Recordings' Matt Valentine). Originally issued as a private press LP in 1971, the Roots of Madness was a collective of San Jose, Calfornia heads centered around a fellow named Don Campau who was clearly marinating in the remnants of ESP Records' lysergic freedom explorations in jazz, concrete, loose folk, and sound manipulation. The recordings breathed with a total musty basement air vibe, and were a defining bridge in many ways between the lost minds of the 60's and the high weirdness of the 70s that was yet to peak (think Residents, Faust). This particular LP Girl in the Chair is chock full of both the skronky and the sublime with an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to musicmaking interspersed with the odd over-the-top beatnik spoken passage ("The Old Man's Ass" is particularly memorable one). Campau touched base with us recently and pointed out that some other recordings from this area are available on CD-R at his site. It's continually amazing that so many locales have their own subculture of weirdos with sprawling bodies of recorded output from this era yet to be examined. We've thankfully been given retrospectives from the LAFMS, midwest freaks like MX-80, Chinaboise, Debris, and so many other ensembles that have added local flavor to their worship of Stockhausen, Stooges, Beefheart etc., that one can only wonder how much more lurks in the sub-underground of America yet to be put into the spotlight. Thanks to Clint from DeStijl and Matt Valentine for casting one on this camp in 2005. Here's an excerpt (MP3) of "Realisation II" (with shortwave, walkie-talkie, trumpet, trombone, percussion) and a spoken piece that follows called "Nihility In Being."
i live for this stuff!!! gotta get me the whole LP. check out my website for constant mp3s of said weirdness and more...
Posted by: jack dee | June 01, 2005 at 03:33 PM