Thursday, October 23, 2008

OPTICAL*8*2-THE LAST WALTZ FROM DISTORTED HONKY-TONK, CD, 1992, JAPAN






Originally conceived of as being God Mountain label head/experimental synthesist/trannie Hoppy Kamiyama's New York-based unit (and which was latterly reconstituted with a Japanese line-up), The Last Waltz From Distorted Honky-Tonk was the striking second album from Optical*8 (and with the *2 appended to their moniker here as a result) in their initial international incarnation. With avant string slinger Marc Ribot prominently featured, we're here treated to one continuous 40 odd minute sprawl of sound that segues between a floppy assed mutant funkiness thats cross-cut by the clattering David Moss-like filagree emanating form the combined forces of Douglas E. Bowne's drums, E.J. Rodrigues's percussion and Steve Eto's metals and garlanded with Kamiyama's key squonk, twinkle, wheeze and wheedle and passages that splay out into a soupy sprawl of seasick improv incident.

Get it Here

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

i love optical 8, but like the japanese incarnation better... by the way, does anyone have ground zero "last concert" from 98 ? it is quite impossible to get anywhere & anyhow... thanx for this great music you have here, just discovered it chris

Anonymous said...

Hi Eric, the iTunes tag info for this disc says it's Disc 2/2. Do you have Disc 1 or even know if it exists? Thanks so much for the 5 new posts and have a good weekend!

vdoandsound said...

anonymous-It is and always has been a single disc release. No idea what the business with the itunes tags is about, but it's some sorta snafu.

Dr Wommm said...

Great work. Thanks for this. I don't suppose anyone's got the glorious live double 'All Over' by the Japanese line-up...

Fred G. Sanford said...

eeeeek. this looks pretty cool.
thanks again.

I noticed you have some NOMUZIK tapes on your WANT LIST. and also some Carl Howard, L.G.Mair etc.
I have some stuff laying around the house, in various boxes.
I will get back in touch via yr e-mail.

please, keep putting tapes up there
man. there has been some great stuff so far.

we here in the United States hope to staunch the bleeding by putting mr. Obama in to the WHite House..
Michael Moore described this as the needed tourniquet.
Mr. O. is far from perfect but the USA is so very,very far from having a viable 3rd party. oops, we are out of space!