BROADCAST #47
AIR DATE: 11-20-07

Fanatics! Here are tonight’s notes. I finally got my Miles Davis box set yesterday and have not had time to play it. I will get at it over the weekend as I put together stuff for next week’s show. Tonight there are some artists you are no doubt familiar with and some others, probably ones like Ed Sirrs, that you’re not. Neither am I! Tonight was our first dip in PJ Harvey’s new album White Chalk, which is a great piece of work, no surprise there. Never played Faust on our show before, I think you all will like that one. I already have a good part of next week’s show already put together and it’s going to be a great one. I have been gathering some really cool stuff from all over so please try and tune in if you can. Many of you locals will be with Van Halen tonight. Please get back safe and STAY FANATIC!!! --Henry

For you Fanatics who can’t live without hearing this show again or if the original broadcast time is too hard on your sleep cycle here’s the re-broadcast schedule: USA: Fridays: 0200 – 0400 hrs. PST / UK: Fridays: 1000 hrs. – 1200 hrs./ Continental Europe: Fridays 1100 hrs. – 1300 hrs./ Australia: Fridays 2100 hrs. – 2300 hrs.

E-mail for me: Henryontheradio@aol.com

Jimi Hendrix - Can You See Me: From the newly released Live At Monterey CD. This was on CD many years ago in Germany. I got my copy for about ten DM. I had this album for a long time and it was always one of my favorite Hendrix live recordings. It’s even more interesting when you find out more about the historic significance of this particular performance. This is June 1967 date was the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s first American show. Hell of a way to show up and announce yourself. The Who were on the bill, Ravi Shankar, Janis Joplin, Otis Redding –no pressure there. Jimi and the band blew people’s minds and no one ever forgot it. The great performance film was just released on DVD as well so you can see and hear. I really like the early Experience live performances. So great to hear such a raw three piece band rip it. I always thought the shows around the first album were so punk, the band blowing out here and there, Jimi really going for it with real simple but full on attack. If you have never heard this entire concert, you might want to check it out. Also, Fanatics, there’s a pretty cool 6CD set of all the Hendrix Winterland recordings called 3 Nights At Winterland that’s apparently released only in a run of 2000. I don’t know as to how legit it is. I had a lot of this on bootleg and official releases but this set has some tracks I have never heard before so it might be worth pursuing before they’re all gone. Like I said, I don’t know as to how much the Hendrix estate had to do with this or if the 2000 pressing information is accurate but it’s worth checking out all the same.

The Razors – Christ Child: From the single that we were listening to last month. Another great one.

The Ruts – Backbiter: It’s been a little while since we visited the Ruts album, The Crack since Paul’s passing, I thought it would be good to blast this one. The thing that bugs me when I listen to this one is that we never tried to do this one live when we had the chance. I bet we could have worked this one up in no time. It would have been great to play this one live.

The Fall - Mike's Love Xexagon (Original Version): Found on The Fall Box Set 1976 – 2007. Some of you really gone Fanatics had this version for quite a long time as some insiders had access to the original version of The Real New Fall Album called Country On The Click. I was hoping that more of this album would have surfaced on this box set as there are a lot more tracks to be dug from that unreleased album. There’s a great version of Green Eyed Loco Man from those sessions. I didn’t play any of those tracks on our show because I didn’t want betray the person who gave it to me. Perhaps MES will eventually release more of these sessions at some point. Here’s a nice breakdown of the box set: http://www.visi.com/fall/discog/boxset.html. When you think of all the alt. versions of tracks found on the I Am Kurious Oranj LP version of the album that are different than the CD versions, stuff like this should have easily been on this set instead of a ton of stuff Fall Fanatics already have. I wonder why MES is so mean to the Fanatics? This box could have been so much cooler than it is. Quite honestly, I don’t know why they bothered. Here’s the main site address so you can know all things Fall: http://www.visi.com/fall/

Glenn Branca (The Static) - You Got Me: Found on The Static EP. Difficult to locate and expensive when you do. This is some very early Branca. The first time I heard his music was The Ascension album that I think was loaned to me by Diamanda Galas in 1985. I went forward from there. You can find this song easily on the Songs '77-'79 CD. This, along with the Theoretical Girls CD collection allows you to hear Branca taking off into the visionary composer to became soon after. It was interesting to me to go backwards into the Theoretical Girls and The Static stuff, having heard more of his larger pieces first. He’s a very interesting and intense musician. I have a lot of his work, not all of it though. It’s been awhile since I have checked out his symphonies. I have been listening to a lot of Tony Conrad stuff lately, which is often a very involved listen so perhaps I am ready to plunge into Branca again. Cool stuff, not for everyone I don’t think.

Omar Souleyman - Dabke 2001: We’re back, right into it with another track from the Highway To Hassake CD on Sublime Frequencies. Now it’s killing me that I was in Syria and perhaps hearing his music at some of the stalls in Damascus and not even known. I have been looking all over the internets and can’t find any more of his music beyond this one CD, which I am grateful for, of course but I would like to hear more. I have never heard anything like this guy, and the music, it’s from another planet. Fanatics, there’s so much good music out there, what are going to do except fight the war on sleep?!

Grinderman - Depth Charge Ethel: From the Treacle Sessions, which isn’t hasn’t been officially released I don’t think. Recorded 05-02-07 at Treacle studios in East London. I was sent all these tracks on a CDR some time ago. There are more though. You can find this track here: http://coffeesnorter.blogspot.com/2007/08/todays-brew-grinderman-treacle-sessions.html. The more Grinderman tracks the better as far as I’m concerned. I am still reeling from the two Grinderman shows I witnessed a few months ago. I was on tour all last month when Nick and Co. were in Australia doing shows if I wasn’t on the road here, I would have been there checking out the shows for sure.

Sun Ra - Door Of The Cosmos: From the 1979 Sleeping Beauty album, recently re-issued on Artyard. This is rapidly turning into one of my favorite Sun Ra albums. I had MP3 versions of the tracks with me on this last tour and was playing this album pre-show quite a bit. It’s not on CD at this point, I don’t know it will be issued as such so some of you Fanatics sans turntable might have to miss out for now. Hopefully Artyard helps out those limited to the digital domain and comes to their rescue.

PJ Harvey - White Chalk: From Ms. Harvey’s new album White Chalk. I picked this up in Boston several weeks ago and only played it recently. It’s another great one. You might have a favorite Harvey album or prefer some over others but you have to admit, there’s no PJ Harvey album that makes you wonder how she could have lost the plot. There are some artists who you know are always going to do the right thing. She’s one of them. I think I have all of her album and most of the singles. I am sure there’s some cool stuff of hers that I have not heard, at least a few b-sides and compilation cuts that I have missed but by and large, I think I’ve heard the bulk of it and it’s all damn good but you already knew that. I read that PJ Harvey is new to piano so you’re hearing her exploring the instrument and you can hear how tentative some of her playing is and I think that’s one of the best parts of the album. It’s not like she’s hitting clunkers, but there’s a frailty and vulnerability in her playing that really makes the songs immediate. This is a very quiet and beautiful album and also very different than the Uh Huh Her album released in 2004.

Porn (The Men Of) – Porch Song: From the Porn American Style album released in 1999 on the great and sadly missed Man’s Ruin label. They got it right, that label, so many great releases. For now, this album is not all that easy to find but worth it. Play this one loud and the bottom may drop out of Earth. Mid-tempo crushing music played by men who have all night. Porn is Tim Moss on guitar, Dale Crover (Melvins) on drums and Billy Anderson on bass 666 line ups This is their first release, their 2nd is called Experiments In Feedback, released in 2001 and the newest one is Wine, Women And Song, released in 2005. Since they are new to the show, we might as well roll out their music chronologically.

Ed Sirrs - I Think I Think Too Much: From the single. I found this online while looking for something else. Sirrs is a photographer of note, some of the more well-known music photographers out there and at one point in 1979, he released this single on Oval. It’s not the best thing you’ve ever heard but it is really cool and perfect for our show tonight. I see this single around now and again, it’s not on CD anywhere I don’t think and I don’t know anything about the Oval label but this is a pretty cool single.

Radio Pyongyang - Commie Funk?: From the Radio Pyongyang CD on Sublime Frequencies. I got this CD the other day in Lawrence KS because it looked really interesting and Fanatic is it ever. Of course, this isn’t the name of the song but it’s what’s on the CD so that’s what I’m going with. The music is insane and you can tell these poor folks don’t get out much. I don’t know if you would like this CD all the way thogh, I don’t know if I would but I have checked it out and so far it’s nuts more than enjoyable. The sound quality is a little smudgy, who knows how the audio was pulled off the radio but you can check this CD out fairly easily online. I really want to go to North Korea and just check things out. It’s not this CD that is the inspiration, that’s for sure but still, I really want to go to North Korea some day.

Excepter – Jrone: From the KA album. Not all that easy to find on LP or CD. Engineer X turned me onto these guys, I think they’re amazing. On their site you can download all these free streams of their material for free. There’s hours of it. I am a few hours in with many more to go. The band makes incredible soundscapes using seemingly everything to get sound out of it. I don’t know much about them, all I know is they blow my mind. They are one of the many bands that Engineer X has turned me onto since we started this Sonic Jihad a few years ago.

X Ray Spex – Highly Inflammable: The 5th and final single for the band as well as an album track on Germ Free Adolescents. One of my favorite Spex songs, Warrior In Woolworth’s is on the b-side. We have talked about this band before, this is one of those must-hear albums. What a great band. I think they did everything right. They got together and made a small batch of great songs and broke up. That’s it, no hanging around to milk it or not be as good as they used to be, they were around for a little while then they were gone and all of their songs are really great. If all you have heard is a few songs of theirs and you liked them, you’ll like the rest. They wrote brilliant songs that have not lost a bit of speed in 30 years.

Y Pants - The Code Of Life: Have not checked out a Y Pants track for a few weeks so I reckoned the time was now. I had been playing this record a lot on the last tour and the more I checked it out, the more I liked it. The New York based trio released a four song 7” EP in 1980, not all that easy to find at this point but you can get their CD that has all the songs on the EP and more, that one is on Periodic Document. I got my copy from the very handy Forced Exposure website. The band were Gail Vachon, Barbara Ess and Virginia Piersol. Ess you heard a few tracks ago on the Branca track. All the information I have learned about the band, I got from the very well written review of their CD on Dusted Reviews: http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/3819

Family Fodder Playing Golf (With My Flesh Crawling): This was the band’s first single, released in 1979 on Parole / Fresh and can also Savoir Faire: The Best Of CD. What an interesting band this is. I wish this best-of CD wasn’t so hard to get a hold of. I only know what I’ve read about this band and don’t know anyone who is a fan of theirs. I don’t remember anyone ever telling me about them. I found out about them because Unrest covered one of their songs Wynona Ryder and I went forth from there. It was an interesting choice for Unrest to make and they even made two versions of the song, which makes it even more interesting. Anyway, taking my cue from Unrest, I sought out the music of Fam Fod and managed to find all their stuff, at least I think I have. So far, I am liking all of it and only wish I had found out about them sooner. I just got some of the solo work of band member Alig Fodder that is also really good and I’ll bring that in soon. I have to transfer it from vinyl but I’ll get at that soon. I think this is the 5th track from this CD we have played this year.

The Melvins: Tipping the Lion (New and Improved): From the Electroretard CD. Another one of the great releases on the sadly gone Man’s Ruin label. I am not an expert on The Melvins but this release seems very hard to find. I don’t know why the MR label stuff seems to be out print, it was one of the coolest labels ever and this is a great Melvins record. Worth it for the track we heard tonight and the cover of Interstellar Overdrive. If you don’t have this one and can score it at a good price, do it! This is vastly different than the version found on the band’s Stag album.

Jah Lion - Bad Luck Natty: From the Colombia Colly album. I first heard the man on a Lee Scratch Perry collection. I went from there to this album, produced by Perry. I don’t know much about Jah Lion besides what I’ve read online. He has recorded under many names through the decades, reinventing himself when trends in music changed. I want to hear the stuff he did previous to this album when he was in a band called The Mediators. I will see if I can round up some of this stuff. The CC album is good, if you liked what you heard. Many times when I listen to records like these, even when produced by the likes of Mr. Perry, I am left wanting to hear the mixes taken further out, more stoned, I guess. This is perhaps in part due to the fact that I am still developing an ear for this music and am trying to bring the wrong attitude to it. Thanks to the Blood & Fire label, I am getting more Reggae and Dub into my diet.

Fake Shark-Real Zombie! - Eenie Meanie: From the Zebra! Zebra! CD. The band sent me this right when I was leaving on tour so it took me a while to throw songs from it into the mix. We played one of their songs many weeks ago when they sent me a sound file through the internets. I think this is a really great, loud, wild record filled with passion and fury smashing into everything in sight, good stuff.

Ligeti / The King's Singers - Nonsense Madrigals: Cuckoo In The Pear-Tree: From György Ligeti’s Edition Vol. 4 - Vocal Works / Salonen, Et Al CD. Isn’t this a great little piece of work. It sits perfectly between what came before and after. It seems that that Ligeti worked nonstop if you look at the output and the variety and complexity of his work, it’s fairly astounding that he got it all done. I am a newcomer to the man’s work. I have been listening to Ligeti for a couple of years now and it’s great but his work takes a good deal of concentration so I will usually play one of his records at night when things are moving a little slower. As far as a single release to direct you towards, I can’t recommend anything as I am still getting my head around his work.

Martin Rev - Lost In The Orbits: From the To Live CD. I didn’t know this was out until a few weeks ago. I was in a record store, Buffalo NY I believe it was. This came out in 2003. I am sorry it took me this long to find it but Marty’s albums sometimes don’t always get a great deal of promotion. Martin Rev is half of the mighty New York band Suicide along with Alan Vega. The two of them have done many solo albums between Suicide albums and this is the only Rev album that has escaped me thus far. We’ll definitely get another track from this one onto our show soon. It’s really cool. Musically, it’s the best Marty’s sounded in a long time.

Dax Riggs - Truth In The Dark: From the We Sing Of Only Blood Or Love album. Lyrically, it sounds like it should be the title track. This is another track from Dax’s first post Deadboy effort. When I first heard Deadboy And The Elephantmen’s album We Are Night Sky, I went looking for other records of theirs and found a listing for one but couldn’t find it but recently ran into a copy as well as his recordings with the band Acid Bath and I’ll bring in tracks from those records soon. This is a great album, I have been playing this one a lot lately and it’s really working for me. Dax is the man.

Faust - We Are The Hallo Men: From the BBC Sessions CD I found in the Faust: The Wumme Years box set. Interesting that they used the famous lines, penned by T.S. Eliot and uttered by Marlon Brando’s character Walter E. Kurtz in Coppola’s epic Apocalypse Now. I don’t know anything about Faust but I am working my way into their catalog so I’ll have more of a grip on it soon. It’s such a great thing, music, you turn a corner and all of a sudden, you’re back in school again, always more to learn.