Wednesday, October 17, 2007

STRANGE FRUIT ABIKU-SIN EATERS PICNIC, LP, MID-80'S, USA




This was a band whose name was tucked in the "must find" section of my collector brain for nearly 15 years before I managed to finally track down a copy of this exceedingly obscure release, as a review in an old issue of Option magazine once claimed that they sounded like "the Art Bears in a closet", a thumbnail description that seemed custom made to instill fascination in my fevered brain. Unexpectedly, their description squares not one whit with actual contents at hand. No...there's nothing remotely R.I.O. about the hermetic D.I. Y. 4-track post punk maneuvers at play here, though this is a decidedly odd kettle 'o fish nevertheless. As it happens, Strange Fruit Abiku turns out to be the first vinyl documentation of both Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth and Tim Foljahn of Two Dollar Guitar, certainly enticement enough for a certain sector of music fans out there, though there's nothing here suggestive of what would follow in either of their careers. Rather, Strange Fruit Abiku's conflation of the whacked and the dubious yokes frequently gripping de-tuned shambolic instrumental lurch and wobble of a decidedly claustrophobic cast (often cross cut with tape speed fuckery and shattered by primitive effects) to largely insipid girly vocalese in a way that practically defines the phrase chalk and cheese. As frustrating as it is revelatory, I'll leave it to you to be the judge...

Get it Here

12 comments:

  1. there was another strange fruit (i have the lp somewhere...god knows where) out of kalamazoo in late 80's (?) that may have had something to do with mike love, who also put out an amazing 7" called "Niggerology 2000"....he prolly did some other stuff...he was talented and mysterious.
    kevinass

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  2. kevinass-This is the same Mike Love Kalamazoo outfit of which you speak. There's also a Strange Fruit Abiku single I've never been able to locate. They were apparently initally known as Spastic Rhythm Tarts, later as Abiku Red and in that guise released another split LP with one Ark Of Bone. The whole saga, complete with Steve Shelley chiming in to clarify matters can be found here, for those that are interested:

    http://vinyljourney.blogspot.com/2005/08/abiku-red-repulsion.html

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  3. david b. livingstone of godbullies, dick van patton's lung disease, teenage larvae, producer of niggerology 2000, and all round evil guy lived in kalamazoo for quite awhile and knows a lot bout this whole scene...he's out there somewhere, skulking and sniggering....i have occasional contact with him...mebbe he knows bout the music you seek...(i once recorded an lp in m.love's basement, but that's another tale...)

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  4. http://rapidshare.com/files/62848445/Strange_Fruit_Abiku-Sin_Eaters_Picnic_12__EP-USA-mid_80_s.zip

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  5. Did you ever find the 7"? I have it and it's sucking great. Got to see them twice back in the day, and I have a live tape somewhere I need to digitize. Never got their other stuff, so glad to see this post.

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  6. Have multiple copies of the 7", a beat up copy of the split 12" with Ark Of Bone, a cassette of Ark Of Bone (demos?/live), and a copy of the "Fear of Drowning" LP, as well as video of members of Strange Fruit and friends horsing around in their basement. Todd singing "The Moon in June" so funny!

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  7. Anonymous-If you ever feel the urge to share any or all of those with us I know many would be delighted. I can be reached at reached at pantheonbar@gmail.com should you be so inclined.

    Eric

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  8. tim foljahn here. involved with all o that. i am very interested in any stray audio or video kicking around from that time other than the releases. there was some public access videos that i would love to get my hands on.
    tfoljahn@yahoo.com

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  9. Hiya, link to an old Poetry record I thought was long forgotten.

    http://mantismusic.us/release/mad_queen_records/the_fear_of_drowning_a_poetry_album

    A few of the people on it were:

    Michael Love, Sherrie Feight, and David B. Livingstone. I was also on 1 track. David was one of my roommates for a while. David had a half track reel-to-reel he used for making a weekly radio show in Kalamazoo called "Corpse of Milk".

    Michael had a 4 track Tascam cassette deck, which he used for making the StrangeFruit albums.

    - Tom

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  10. For anyone interested, this should be Michael Love's / StrangeFruit's first EP

    http://archaicformats.com/label/babel.html

    STRANGE FRUIT ABIKU- On Top Of A Hill (original pressing w/repro cover)
    7"
    $8 USD

    Cheers - Tom K.

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  11. Any chance of a re-up?

    Thanks!

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