V/A-WIENER BLUTRAUSCH, LP, 1979, AUSTRIA

I'll just give you a moment here to soak in that cover. The unreal quality of that image is matched by the cheerfully idiom obliterating nature of this Austrian compilation's contents, which veer wildly between prog, fusion and new wave, and seems to have triangulated a cherry spot pitched right in between these poles with the fascinating assortment of little known artists featured. Drahdiwaberl kick things off with a campily theatrical form of spacy rock that makes me think of Eroc covering Pink Floyd's Money, only to get prog funky in the rustic/Teutonic manner of Muck Groh. Over the rest of the A side, Mini-Sex propose equally unlikely shotgun weddings and make me think of the way New Wave forms got perverted in amusingly uncouth ways by Yugoslavian outfits like Zabranjeno Pusenje or Marjanov Cudni Zajec. Metzlutzkas Erben finish out the side by dancing an appealing fandango between high voltage fusion and the proggy satirical rock zaniness of later Checkpoint Charlie. On the flip, Chuzpe enjoyably tear through some early Ultravox-like art punk ramalamma with the nerviness they're named for, if not an equal measure of originality, Mordbuben AG proffer distinction-free back-to-basics rawk 'n' roll and Metzlutzkas Erben pop 'round for a second pass of absolutely wicked fusionoid antics.

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MARCOS VALLE-VENTO SUL, LP, 1972, BRAZIL

Together with folks like Arnaud Rodrigues and Azymuth, Marcos Valle was one of the premier exponents of advanced musical formulations coming off a related but distinct Samba/Bossa-influenced tip to the more well known Tropicalia crowd. Vento Sul was Valle's crowning achievement of this period and finds him being backed by prog rockers from the band O Terco. The exquisite end results are worthy of the dream-like cover imagery, taking the dewily lilting and hip swaying indigenous musical aspects of Valle's work and cross-pollinating them with the sorta fathoms deep acid rock exotica you'll hear in the grooves of a Traffic Sound or Malon album and the aching and keening emotional heft of prime era Franco Battiato when he's in song form mode.

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VAGTAZO HALOTTKEMEK-A HALAL MORESRE TANITASA (TEACH DEATH A LESSON), LP, 1988, HUNGARY

Playing what they describe as shamanic psychedelic hardcore, this utterly unique and slightly unreal Hungarian crew (whose name translates to The Galloping Coroners) unleash dense blasting waves of concentrated psychedelic otherness on their debut outing here and in so doing, anticipate a raft of later (and still ongoing) developments, particularly the psychedelia-as-collapsing-black-hole aesthetic of the crowd associated with Japan's PSF-label, with Hawkwind-like power drives imploding into fields of fierce abstracted motion.

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JUKKA TOLONEN-THE HOOK, LP, 1974, FINLAND

This was the third outing under his own steam from this one time leader of prog rockers Tasavallan Presidentti and unofficial guitarist for what was merely the greatest Finnish band of all time, namely Wigwam. With newly souped up production values and a four man horn section in tow, The Hook represents the moment when Tolonen really cemented his monster fusion guitarist status, his previous two outings (particularly the swooningly lovely Summer Games) having operated more in the folkloric-prog-with-jazz-trappings mode of Bo Hansson or Kebnekaise. With The Hook, it's clear that Tolonen had his sights set on the world stage and it's undeniably commanding work, with a fluid grandeur and air of mystery to it that suggests a mid-ground between Terje Rypdal, Placebo and Picchio Dal Pozzo.

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HARALD 'SACK' ZIEGLER-KENNEN SIE DEN ZIEGLER?, TAPE, 1993, GERMANY

Here's another disarming example of Ziegler's quizzical and faux naive shoebox universe courtesy once again of blog friend Roger. Unfurling in episodic and frequently bitty form, the Comelade-like tinker toy tinkle and pump organ wheezing bent of this stalwart German underground music operative's recently shared Zehn Meter Langes Regal Kippte Um tape continues apace here, only offset by some neurotically singleminded singing, with Ziegler working himself into a particular emotional lather over Barbie and Ken.

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EP-4-LINGUA FRANCA-1, LP, 1983, JAPAN

This crucial Mutant Funk crew evolved out of Vanity label minimal synthers R.N.A. Organism and offer up a seamless mix of polyrhythmic densities and polymorphous arrangements that varyingly nods in the direction of the 80's downtown NY axis via tautly concise Liquid Liquid grooves or the elaborately funky arrangements of Talking Heads on Speaking In Tongues, while elsewhere summoning some of those winningly disconsolate P.I.L.-damaged post Can-ism's that appeared during the NDW era on albums by Sticken-In, Phew and Czukay/Wobble/Liebezeit.
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RENATO ZERO-ZEROFOBIA, LP, 1977, ITALY

Patchy but occasionally insanely great disco absurdity with pronounced space disco tangents from this Jobriath-like character known for appearing onstage in a bird suit. This was sent to me by my old NY pal Tony a dog's age ago and I've mulled over the idea of posting it ever since, though the overt commercial angle of some of this dissuaded me before now. But then I listened to the cut La Trappola again last night and realized it'd be downright cruel to deprive kooks and aspiring hipsters the world over of such a mainline into the throbbing core essence of true blue cheese godhead. I'd be prepared to endorse this track from a hilltop with a megaphone if necessary. And I'm betting you will too, though It'll take the nasal equivalent of an enema to clear the phantom scent of amyl nitrate and sweat from your mental sensorium after a dip into this audio jacuzzi. And there is more of this sorta goodness strewn about elsewhere as on this thing as well, with Zero turning on some naked (and wonderful) Lucio Battisti emulation on "L'Ambulanza" and bursts of the most perfect synthetic Love Boat vibes imaginable on "Regina" for you aspiring Yacht Rockers with a hankering for deeper revelations.

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SEVERED HEAD IN A BAG-S/T, CDR, 2006 (RECORDED: EARLY 80'S), USA

Bootlegged from cassette and live sources by the cats behind the Dolor Del Estamago (formerly Stomach Ache) imprint, this fantastic and highly obscure early 80's slobbering free rock/free noise melee was brought to you courtesy of a loosely aggregated outfit led by Jon Wayne/3 Day Stubble nutter, future Medicine drummer and occasional Whitehouse associate Jim Goodall. Known (if at all) from having been documented in warts and all fashion on the notorious D.U.I. video comp of early 80's L.A. underground fare, a goodly bit of this sounds like a precursor to much of the detuned sludge rock that would become rife during the latter half of the decade via the likes of The Butthole Surfers or Crust on one end and labels like Amphetamine Reptile on the other; with the bemused nihilism and atonal caterwaul of Flipper being the best period touchstone for what's transpiring here.


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HARALD SACK ZIEGLER-ZEHN METER LANGES REGAL KIPPTE UM, TAPE, 1990, GERMANY

Following up on my recent post of his +10% Pustekuchen tape, here's more modestly scaled and whimsy sodden formulations from this longstanding naif mage and future member of folktronica operatives Sack Und Blumm. There's a tradition of this sorta thing within German underground music culture that extends from the the mercurial Neue Deutsche Welle electropop experimentation of Die Welttraumforscher and wends it's way forward to the weirder edges of the Cologne electronica axis via the likes of Schlammpeitziger. Smack dab in between those eras, Ziegler was imagining a candy coated and casio toned universe of cockamamie caprice, whose air of frivolity belies what a richly developed and unique vernacular it is that he's developed; indeed one that bears comparison with masters of the form like Pascal Comelade and Pierre Bastien. Blog friend Roger can be thanked once again for providing this treasure.

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TRIPOD JIMMIE-LONG WALK OFF A SHORT PIER, LP, 1982, USA

Formed by guitarist Tom Herman upon his exit from the early line-up of Pere Ubu and named in honor of a three legged pooch owned by one of the members, the musical propositions proffered here are not attempting to re-make the wheel ala Ubu, but taken on their own terms, Tripod Jimmie were a fierce and compelling proposition nevertheless, with a spare but garrulous garage-y attack offset by Herman's tensile guitar shards and twitchily yammering Girls-like vocalizing.

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HANIWA-CHAN, KANASHIBARI, LP, 1984, JAPAN

Just to set the stage with a round of maximum cognitive dissonance, this album initiates with a sphincter clenching Arena Rock gambit that would make Loverboy wince. Ah, but these high voltage Japanese oddballs are just setting you up for a fall. Down a rabbithole as it turns out, what with the sudden intrusion of three dimensional polka dotted electro-pop quirk of a sort that some of you might refer to as Zolo. It's but the first in a long and befuddling series of genius caliber rug-pulls from a group who can count both Chris Cutler and Henry Kaiser as worshipful adherents to their wild muse, both having at one time placed this LP in their top 10. Led by percussionist, composer and visionary Kiyohiko Senba, Haniwa-Chan played an alternate and smaller scale iteration of the sort of music he composed on a mass scale with his orchestra-sized ensemble Kiyohiko Senba And His Haniwa All-Stars (both posted on MS previously). And with tracks like Owannaino on here, Cutler and Kaiser's case is not a difficult one for someone to make. Spinning on a dime with pinprick accuracy and rubberized dimensionality, it's literally one of the most astonishing cuts I've ever heard; like some trans-dimensional equivalent of a Rube Goldberg device collapsed down into it's quadraphonic and holographic audio equivalent only to be suddenly ramrodded by an out-of-the-blue intrusion of charging Beetle Juice-like Danny Elfman orchestral bombast before finally reconstituting Rube for another round of airborne whirligig motion. Astonishing and intensely disciplined displays like this are just par for the course with this crew though; arbiters of that rarified realm of uber-weirdness that only fellow 80's Japanese outfits like After Dinner, Wha Ha Ha and Killing Time were plying, though for all the overt displays of compositional outlandishness, there's plenty of winsome cuteness to offset it all in neon pink air quotes. You can thank an anonymous blog friend for enriching your life with this treasure. Go grapple with this one and get back to me, folks...

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***NOTE: THERE'S A MIRRORED MEDIAFIRE LINK IN THE COMMENT FIELD*** 

TOTEM-CORRUPCION, LP, 1973, URUGUAY

Alternately thundering like badasses or lilting like latin lovers, this psych/prog gem comes out of one of the Latin American 70's scenes that few are yet hepped to. This was Totem's third, final and most developed album and and the luxuriant atmosphere on it is thick with drama. With wailing sax and weaving flutes to the fore on most cuts, their angle of approach here could be triangulated between Peru's Traffic Sound and Argentina's Malon and Bubu. Heady company indeed, but then this album's a motherfucker.

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DILEDADAFISH-MOTHBALL, CD, 1991, SWITZERLAND

Spluttery and spare, the output of this obscure Swiss crew (featured on the V/A-Point Of Yucca CD that I posted with my last round) intriguingly sways between several naif poles, notably those that temper their synthetic plink-plonk melodic sense with a counterweight of moody sound washes ala Steve Thomsen, Sebastian Gandera, Famlende Forsok and Jac Berrocal circa his Nato label output. As was the case with the Point Of Yucca CD, this is featured here courtesy of blog friend Roger.

NOTE: Links removed at the request of the label

HAL GALPER-THE GUERRILLA BAND, LP, 1973, USA

Monster caliber fusion from this hunched over ivory tickler and his crack crew, which includes drummer Don Alias and a very early outing from the Brecker Bros on horns, predating their much slicker inclinations on late 70's fusion hits. This kicks off squarely in the mode of Nucleus circa Solar Plexus, with half-speed horn flows elegantly rippling across a racing groove undercurrent and repeatedly returns to this rich well on subsequent tracks in a manner simpatico with Belgians jazz rockers like Placebo and Solis Lacus, though tempered by an occasional smoky lounge groove vibe akin to The Lyman Woodard Organization.
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SCULPTRESS-THIS PHRASE APPEALS TO YOU, CDR, 2005, UK

Drifting in and out of focus on striated layers of twinkling and droning esoterica, This Phrase Appeals To You is another evocative stab at the eternal cosmic sublime from the sector of the UK freak folk scene aligned with the likes of Ben Reynolds and Ashtray Navigations' Phil Todd; this particular project being spearheaded by their regular associate Andy Jarvis and featuring his sis Mikarla on vocals. Under the banner of Sculptress, this crew unfurl bleary rounds of horsehair scrape and harmonium wheeze offset by spare improvisational tactics, the sum total carrying more than a little whiff of 70's Swedish underground musical traditions.

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WET TAXIS-TAXIDERMY, TAPE, 1980, AUSTRALIA

Whoah...get back, Jack! Lookie what an anonymous Mutant Sounds fan just decided to gift us all with! Yes, this really is the first Wet Taxis tape, one of the most storied and, 'til now, completely vanished early artifacts of the Aussie post punk/post industrial/post everything cultural uprising of the late 70's/early 80's. Why so storied? Because this 50 copy tape features some of the earliest Severed Heads-related material extant, being the original home for future band member Garry Bradbury, working here alongside brothers Tim and Simon Knuckey (the latter of whom played guest guitar on several Severed Heads cuts) and with a guest turn from Severed Heads founder Tom Ellard. The Taxis started life under the moniker Sydney Quads and apparently issued a hand painted artist record ala Milan Kniszac during their brief existence before altering their moniker to Wet Taxis. These folks would have several notable cuts featured on legendary Terse Tapes comps like Mysterious Kitchens and One Stop Shopping circa this period (both featured elsewhere on MS), though they'd latterly gain much more renown as a garage psych outfit some years down the road under the guidance of one Louis Tillet. Taxidermy though is another story entirely, being comprised of a rudely spliced grab bag of live and studio tracks, sound bites and noise. Australia's underground of this era was host to several virulent strains of post punk/synth punk sturm und drang and Wet Taxis' cantankerous early racket places Taxidermy in parity with crucial work by the likes of Primitive Calculators and The Slugfuckers. When the post punk clatter is to the fore, this also calls to mind some of the more baleful exemplars of UK post punk like Metabolist or or the pre-Whitehouse tactics of Come, while the more electronically oriented passages vary between blearily blooping cassette culture claustrophobia ala the Storm Bugs and others that clearly presage the queasily distressed avant electropop churn of early Severed Heads circa Earbitten and Clean. Crucial stuff!

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EARCANDY-SOUND IS JUST THE WAY YOU EAR IT, LP, 1996, UK

A psychoactive beacon of some real substance from deep within the crusty UK space rock scene of the 90's, though divining that requires some initial suspension of disbelief, as the deliberately ludicrous angle of approach that some of this takes bring up mental images of Cheech and Chong standing in for Timothy Leary during the Cosmic Jokers' sessions for 7-Up, while other bits sound like the after effects of too much time spent with Dr. Who re-runs. Put the jokier aspects aside though and you'll quickly find that Dave Tor and crew were well steeped in the fundamentals of kosmiche time slippages and wormhole tunneling. The scene requisite Hawkwind nods are there, but unexpectedly emerge more from the rustic and folky dimension of Hawkwind's debut and work as a calmative counterpoint to the more liquidly phasing and astrally inclined portions here.

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ETANT DONNES-WONDERLAND 1, CD EP, 2001, FRANCE

Mesmerizing, time-tunneling and thunderingly intense, this late-model work by the nonpariel Hurtado brothers (released in tandem with a book of texts by Etant Donnes, Henri Chopin, Claude Louis-Combet, Yvan Etienne, Stephane Duval, Xavier Baert and Michel Giroud) reconfigures their approach toward an alchemical integration of voice, electronics and location recordings as an ecstatic expression of the lived art experience by instead recasting these impulses inside a Virilio-esque transmogrification by sheer velocity.

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V/A-POINT OF YUCCA VOLUME ONE, CD, 1993, VARIOUS

A fascinating and very obscure compendium of 90's cassette culture vets and assorted sub-underground movers, appearing here courtesy of blog friend Roger. Standouts include characteristic craziness from the Japanese Ralph Records-damaged autodidact Yximalloo, wonderfully delicate and enigmatic electropop experimentation from longstanding NDW institution Die Welttraumforscher and some sui generis oddness from Switzerland's Diledadafish who successfully navigate a path from Pascal Comelade-like whimsy to strobing Seefeel slurry by way of Dissecting Table-like post-industrial pound without breaking a sweat.

Track listing:

1. Hal Rammel-Prefigured Recollections
2. David Westling-Beleg Ulistas
3. David Westling-Into The Labyrinth
4. David Westling-Once More To This Star
5. Die Welttraumforscher-Die Feuermann & Wasserfrau Suite: Werde Erde
6. Die Welttraumforscher-Die Feuermann & Wasserfrau Suite: Als Ich Zur Sprache Kam
7. Die Welttraumforscher-Die Feuermann & Wasserfrau Suite: Feuergarten
8. Die Welttraumforscher-Die Feuermann & Wasserfrau Suite: Kindersommer
9. Morloops-Dracula-Loop
10. Morloops-Pain-Loop
11. Morloops-Orff-Loop
12. Doc Wor Mirran-Slow #11
13. M. Hovancsek, B. Chabala, J. Cieciel-The Stomp
14. Amy Denio & Mike Hovancsek-Theatralisch Hersagen
15. Diledadafish-Meret Rici Ous
16. Diledadafish-Radio Odessa
17. Diledadafish-One Minute Of Shimmel
18. The Screaming Popeyes-What The Statue Saw
19. Liquid Sound-Peter's Journey
20. Liquid Sound-Great Music In The Body
21. Liquid Sound-Cow-Mouse
22. Neglige - Electronic Underwear-Dreinklang
23. Yximalloo-A Bird
24. Yximalloo-A Horse
25. Yximalloo-A Fish


NOTE: Links removed at the request of the label

LAGGER BLUES MACHINE-TANIT LIVE, LP, 1992 (RECORDED: 1970), BELGIUM

Meaty hard rockin' psych/prog thunder recorded live and with a sound that bears scant resemblance to the band they'd later morph into two years later with the release of their very studio crafted debut Tanit, which this shares no overlap with despite the title's inference. Heavy was clearly the guiding principle with this crew circa 1970, with Cream and Black Sabbath being obvious antecedents, though with a proto-prog dimension extending their attack in a way that reminds of folks like May Blitz, Clear Blue Sky and, latterly, the modern psych moves of Tangle Edge.

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