Tony Coulter here, with another helping of digitally reconstituted audio/optical artifacts. As always, the analogue/physical originals, of the sounds at least, were acquired since abandoning the shores of Brooklyn eleven months ago. Material support this time 'round was provided by Cozmic Eddie, recurring guest host of KPSU's Psychedelic Renaissance.
And now ... jump in!
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Various Artists: Bloomington 1 (B.R.B.Q. Records, 1975) LP
Let's kick things off with a compilation that surveys Bloomington, Indiana's surprisingly fertile mid-'70s music scene. While some tracks are relatively pedestrian, three (interrelated) bands here deserve a place among the immortals: Screamin' Gypsy Bandits, MX-80 Sound (aka MX-80), and Chinaboise. The Chinaboise cut is the title track of that band's great 2005 compilation CD, so is not fair game for my porpoises, but the other two appear below. Screamin' Gypsy Bandits -- led by guitarist/future-producer-of-note Mark Bingham and featuring vocalist Caroline Peyton -- contribute a cut with more appeal to me than anything on their lone LP, 1973's In the Eye. In place of hippie funk, the Boisterous Peripatetic Banditos here deliver tight and exciting prog fusion in the mode of Mauricia Platon--era Zao or the Muffins. As for the MX-80 cut, while it's far from my favorite of theirs, it is nonetheless a bracing bit of dissonant aggro-fusion.
Mark "Turkey Hand" Bingham, Screamin' Gypsy Bandit:
Screamin' Gypsy Bandits: Shells
*****
MX-80 Sound sound off:
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The Otis Skillings Singers: Young World (Tempo/ Impact Records, 1969) LP
Next up is a late-'60s Jesus-is-for-swingers LP that does actually achieve a sound library--ish groove on a couple of tracks -- particularly the opener, "Young World," which has a "funky exotica" flavor that wouldn't be too out of place on a Nino Nardini album. The second cut I've given you, "The Lord Above," leans a bit more in a sunshine/harmony pop direction, though the drumming is still quite snappy.
Hi-Hat of the Almighty:
The Otis Skillings Singers: Young World
The Otis Skillings Singers: The Lord Above
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The Ron Llloyd Band: Live with the Whole Fam Damily (Earon Records, 1982) LP
We turn now to Idaho's Ron Lloyd Band, and a high-energy and rather wacky set recorded live in 1982 at Ahab's Whale. I had originally intended to give you two vinyl tracks -- both lathered with John Powell's ARP synth stylings -- but discovered at the last minute that the LP above has actually been reissued on CD by the still very active Mr. Lloyd. So in place of vinyl cuts, I've given you a film clip of my favorite tune from the album -- the very same performance, in fact.
Lloyd's Llogo:
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Rick Powell and Bob MacKenzie: Kids' Stuff (Incentive Publications, 1972) LP
Next up is an inspired kids music LP built around the voice of Bob MacKenzie and the sounds of Rick Powell's Moog-ARP synthesizer (seems like Powells and ARPs go together -- see John P. above). Below you'll find two related call-and-response tracks, one with kids supplying the imagination -- and the other, the cryptic imagination-minus-one version. I've also tacked on a brief lilting Rick Powell instrumental.
Powell and Co.:
Rick Powell & Bob MacKenzie: Story A
Rick Powell & Bob MacKenzie: Story B
Rick Powell: Dance of the Dolls, Part 2: Sliding or Skating
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Janet Smith: I'm a Delightful Child (Pacific Cascade Records, 1977) LP
And now a second kids LP, and the first of two releases already heard from on my FMU show -- which would make them ineligible for inclusion here ... if not for the fact that I bought them *again* after moving to Portland last fall. (Legalistic, I know!) The capper, though, is that both artists are from the Northwest.
Anyway, I've given you two cuts from Janet Smith's 1977 LP I'm a Delightful Child, released on an Oregon label, but recorded in Alameda, California. The first, "Would You Please Tie My Shoe?," charmingly combines little-kid vocals with solemn cello, while the second, "Quiet," is a lovely folk-psych meditation. (Apologies for the fact that the pressing itself is not that "quiet.")
Happy Feet:
Janet Smith: Would You Please Tie My Shoe?
*****
Ms. Janet Smith:
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Todd Barton: Pieces: The Musical Topographies of Todd Barton (no label, 1986) LP
Let's finish up the audio portion of this post with an LP by "new music" composer Todd Barton, resident of Ashland, Oregon, and a longtime "house composer" for that city's Oregon Shakespeare Festival. All three tracks I've given you below are from a set of pieces called Music of the Kesh (available on CD from Barton), which developed out of a collaboration with Ursula K. Le Guin. They represent a kind of imaginary ethnographic music -- that is, the ethnic music of a people that doesn't exist.
Landscape of dreams:
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Now that we've finished up with sounds, let's flip through four comic books lying around my house:
Frieda Bart Hind: The Adventures of Manuel Pacifico, Tuna Fisherman (Westgate - Sun Harbor Co., 1950)
Art: Frieda Bart Hind
*****
[detail]
Art: Frieda Bart Hind
*****
[detail]
Art: Frieda Bart Hind
*****
[detail]
Art: Frieda Bart Hind
*****
[detail]
Art: Frieda Bart Hind
*****
[detail]
Art: Frieda Bart Hind
*****
[detail]
Art: Frieda Bart Hind
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Hell-Rider, Vol. 1, No. 1 (August 1971)
Art: Harry Rosenbaum
*****
[detail]
Art: Mike Esposito & Ross Andru
*****
[detail]
Art: Mike Esposito & Ross Andru
*****
[detail]
Art: Mike Esposito & Ross Andru
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Hell- Rider, Vol. 1, No. 2 (October 1971)
Art: Harry Reosenbaum
*****
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Nightmare, Vol. 1, No. 4 (June 1971)
Art: Boris Vallejo
*****
[detail]
Art: Ralph Reese
*****
[detail]
Art: Ralph Reese
*****
[detail]
Art: Ralph Reese
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That's it for this time -- see you in two weeks....
Thanks a million times over for "Young World." Nothing is funnier than squares reaching out to us hippies. Although I got to admit, the beat is groovy and I dig the whole Jesus thing, I really do.
Posted by: Lepidus Vir | July 23, 2010 at 11:23 AM
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5927a2.htm?s_cid=mm5927a2_w
Posted by: bartleby | July 24, 2010 at 02:05 PM