A.A. ALLEN MIRACLE REVIVAL MINISTRIES Crying Demons / I Am
Lucifer (Mad
Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God)
Well, if this literally doesn't scare the hell outta you...twin CDs
documenting purging of demons from human hosts, the perfect audio
companion to your next big date. A.A. Allen garnered a name for himself as
a charismatic healer & exoricst, and put out these recordings originally
as LPs mailed out for $3 donations to his multimedia empire. Most of these
albums (gulp) perished in a warehouse fire, but thanks to the moguls at
the Mad Deadly Worldwide label, you can now enjoy the barfing, choking,
strangled responses to Allen screaming "Jesus commands you to get out of
this body!!" Regardless of whether the demon hosts are "real" or merely
tapping into some subconscious realm, this is some scary listening.
FAUN FABLES Mother Twilight (Earthlight)
When Faun Fables (aka a woman named Dawn McCarthy) sent FMU a home-made
CDR single some months ago it really impressed, and the full length now
out fully realizes what I had hoped it would be. Having roamed around the
Northwest and Europe writing children's sci fi books as well as music for
circuses and vaudeville troupes, Dawn's gorgeous othewrworldly folk is
both steeped in tradition and complete experimentation and inventiveness
(something fans of Brigitte Fontaine would definitely appreciate, her
spirit looms large over this music). There's certainly a dark element that
reminds me of some of the pagan-y stuff featured in the film "The Wicker
Man" not to mention the sinister cooing featured in Krzysztof Komeda's
"Rosemary's Baby" soundtrack, with Dawn epecially utilizing the individual
overdub tracks to create spacious yet claustrophobic elements, almost like
she was welcoming a UFO into the woods. Really nice and recommended.
GLOBOKAR, VINKO Oblak Semen, Discours IX, Zlom (Sargasso)
CHER Maximum Cher: The Unauthorized Biography of Cher (Chrome Talk)
Submerging trombones in fishtanks, wearing assless pants performing for
frothing Navy officers, both Vinko Globokar and Cher adapted fierce ideals
akin to the Fluxus movement into their beings. It was singing a Globokar
piece that almost destroyed Cher's voice in 1973, though the deep tenor
sound that developed thereafter led her into some really unusual terrain
(even going so far to exploit it by putting a "play at 33" sticker on her
45 issue of 80s hit "If I Could Turn Back Time", a move she claimed was
inspired by Mauricio Kagel's ultra-slowed down 1979 piece "Blue's
Blue"). Her spiritual bretheren Vinko Globokar's latest is a fascinating
work (look for his discs cheap too, they're all over Tower
Closeouts): processed sounds, trombone workouts, percussion and orchestra
reside. Cher's latest is an unauthorized spoken biography, hosted by an
unknown British woman backed by a disco instrumental bed, leading the
listener through bouts with alcoholic father, fame-seeking mother,
overcontrolling Sonny Bono (the track "Turning Corners"), life with booze
swilling Greg Allman ("Sweet and Sour"), dyslexia, and a famed performance
at the Kitchen in 1980 where Cher was dressed like a Sequoia Tree and
Laurie Anderson chops her down ("Gypsies, Tramps and Trees"). For fans of
Ernie Tucker's "Everything You Wanted To Know About Grand Funk Railroad."
THE KING BROTHERS The King Brothers (In the Red)
After this Japanese trio's recent performance on WFMU's airwaves, some
wiseguy posted on the station's internet message board "The King Brothers
have no songs". Yeesh, the bloody nerve! The concept of
verse-chorus-verse, how boring. What the world needs is more bands like
the Bros, who count to four and explode into a ball of total trash noise,
flying cymbals, shredded strings and upended mic stands, but STILL adhere
to some kind of "blues-rock" structure (it's buried in there, honest.) The
press sheet that came with this new CD made such grand statements as
"Howlin' Wolf with his hand caught in the garbage disposal" and "make
Guitar Wolf sound like Belle and Sebastian". And I'll always cherish the
sight of them at an FMU benefit 2 years ago at Maxwells: chasing people
around on the floor with one of them playing guitar with a mic stuck in
his gob yelling "YEAAGGHHARRRGGHHUHHH!!!" Words that matter.
ERASE ERRATA Other Animals (Troubleman Unlimited)
Finally a much awaited full length from this excellent Bay Area band who
had folks lined up around the block at Brownies' last week. The fact that
Bianca, Ellie, Jenny, and Sara (who is one of the best guitar players in
recent memory, and we're NOT just saying that because she has done
fill-ins on WFMU!) have a penchant for skronked-up, wiry new/no wave
stylings will inevitably get them compared to Rough Trade 80's staples
like Kleenex/Liliput, Essential Logic, Deta 5, etc. But Erase Errata soak
in so much more of the Bands Who Did It Right: Mission of Burma, Wire,
DNA, Dog Faced Hermans (yes, there is a trumpet in there!), Fire Engines,
Television. And not surprisingly, they landed a show with the Ex recently.
True fiery art-punk spirit when indie rock needs it most!
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