HARMONY IN MY HEAD

BROADCAST #37
AIR DATE: 09-12-06

Alright Fanatics, here’s the music we heard tonight. A few new things I picked up at the record store the other night you might dig like a cut of the new Slayer album as well as the new Pere Ubu album that’s not out yet. Other news: I got a letter from Ian telling me that the new Evens CD is back from the plant and it will be an on time release for early November. I can’t play any of it until then but when it comes out, we’ll get it right on the show. I think we’ll be playing a track called No Money, which is my favorite track from the album so far. Also there’s some other new Dischord releases we’ll explore next week perhaps. My favorite album at the moment is Om’s Conference Of The Birds. I liked their previous release, Variations On A Theme a lot but I like this one more. As many of you Fanatics know, Om is Al Cisneros and Chris Haikus of the legendary band, Sleep. On Conference, you get two long, stony, transcendent bass and drum driven tracks: At Giza and Flight Of The Eagle. Variations had three of tracks, leading some people on the internet to complain that the album is a little short. Well, if the material is going to be this good, too bad there’s not four tracks on the album but you can’t have it all but you get two great tracks. Anyway, here’s the details from tonight’s jams. I do hope you enjoyed the show and please tune in next week as it’s going to be a great one.
Stay Fanatic! --Henry

For you Europeans, Australians and New Zealand Fanatics, there is a re-broadcast time of Friday mornings, 0200 – 0400 hrs. West coast time so you all can check out the show and not have to set your alarms to too rude an hour.

Slayer – Jihad: From their new album, Christ Illusion. There is not a lot of difference in Slayer album-to-album. It’s not like they all of a sudden break out harps and start strumming but on this album there’s a few new twists and turns that I hope the band explores more of in future efforts. One of the songs that is different in this way is Jihad. Slayer played on the my IFC show recently and they were great. I was on tour when this album came out and saw the promo posters all over America. There’s nothing like a drawing of Christ with his arms torn off to make you stop and look twice. A radio host told me as a church goer, he was offended by the image. He asked me what I thought and I told him that should start getting used to seeing more stuff like that as we head closer and closer to the Rapture.

Dinosaur Jr. – Out There: Nothing new about this song but we’re playing for a couple of reasons: there are many Dinosaur Jr. Fanatics who tune into this show and I am definitely one of them and also, this album and the band’s Green Mind were recently remastered and they actually sound better than the previous version. A word to my fellow Fanatics out there: when you buy a CD for the remastering, you might want to compare the two before you toss the original mastering. Sometimes in the time between the two masterings, the source has taken a beating due to poor care or countless other factors. Also, you never know what the engineer thinks the source needs to sound better and may add some things to the sound that may ruin it for you. The Van Halen remasters were for the most part, dismal. Something was done to the mid-range and it just doesn’t sound like it should. Do any of you Fanatics have those old Ryko masters of the Bowie catalog and were wondering if you should spring for the new versions on Virgin? Run do not walk. They sound amazing as do the new Eno remasters and these Dinosaur remasters. Always check out both before you take the original to the shop for trade in.

Can – Moonshake: I was at the record store the other night and in an effort to expand my musical appreciation, I picked up another Can title. I had Tago Mago, which I got from a Fanatic’s suggestion, and really liked it. This was another one that was suggested to me so I gave it a shot. I am loving it but don’t know a damn thing about the band. I’ll get info on the band as I explore the catalog further. So far, I am really liking what I’m hearing.

New York Dolls – We’re All In Love: From the new album One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This. Several months ago, Dolls frontman, David Johanson played me four or five songs from this album and I was duly impressed but hearing it all from beginning to end, I was amazed. It’s not that I didn’t think they could deliver, I just didn’t think they could deliver as consistently for an entire album. They did and then some. It’s great all around. Great songs, sounds, performances—it’s a knock out. I don’t think I have to tell any of you who the New York Dolls are. If somehow, you have not heard this very influential and visionary band, hurry to their self-titled first album, it’s one of those must-have albums if you ask me. I so happy for the band that they have such a great album under their belt. I hope you check this one out. I’ll be playing tracks from this one on the show for sure.

The Very Things – The Gong Man: From the It's A Drug, It's A Drug, It's A Ha Ha Ha, It's A Trojan Horse Coming Out Of The Wall album. It’s pretty funny that they chose that title because I had that one written down on a napkin at one time. As may of you Fanatics know, in a previous life this band was The Cravats. We play the Cravats on the show but I think I have been remiss in not throwing The Very Things into the mix. Besides the music being very strange and inventive, it’s their singer The Shend, who is really the most on toast. Great news for all Cravats and The Very Things Fanatics: it looks like the 2CD Cravats set will finally be coming out in the next several weeks. This is has been a long time in coming. The Shend generously sent me CDRs months ago and I’ve been enjoying them very much. The track of theirs we played weeks ago, I Hate The Universe was taken from this set. You can go to their site and read a short letter from The Shend himself: http://www.thecravats.com/. Just click on “Dcl Bulletin”

The Fall – Room To Live: Originally issued in October of 1982 as the b-side of a single on the Kamera label with Marquis Cha Cha on the A-side. The single was withdrawn and not many copies exist. If you look at the cover of Fanatic! Vol. 1, you will see the picture sleeve. Any release of The Fall on Kamera is pretty hard to find at this point. It was also released on the Room To Live album and a Fall comp. album called Hip Priests And Kamerads, also hard to get a hold of on the original vinyl. Thankfully, the track is available on the very easy to locate Room To Live CD. This is a great grouping of early Fall songs. All this information on Manchester’s UK’s friendliest and most affable band, The Fall and much more can be found at the band’s unofficial website: http://www.visi.com/fall/.

Blue Cheer – Parchment Farm: From the legendary Vincebus Eruptum album released in 1968. Many years ago, Dez from Black Flag turned me onto this album. Utterly crushing guitar war monster riffage that must be played loud to be understood. What a beast this album is. You might think, with the bludgeoning guitars, they might have been hanging around the Black Sabbath water cooler a little too often and while heavy as Sabbath, Blue Cheer pre-dates them. The Bay Area trio named themselves after a brand of LSD that was going around at the time. The guitars are out of control on this album. The fact that the single, a cover of Eddie Cochran’s Summertime Blues actually charted lets you know that America really used to be different. If you like your Psychedelic Rock extra hard and loose, this is your album. It’s one of a kind and I know many of you Fanatics have already spent time with this one. If you have not, this is a true hard rock gem.

The Saints – Know Your Product: I have been wanting to hear this all day. When I was putting this play list together, I felt it right in my gut, I HAD to hear this song! Love that sax line and the great voice of Chris Bailey. This is from their 2nd album, Eternally Yours. This Monster Australian band’s first two albums, (I’m) Stranded and the aforementioned are mandatory rippin’ rock albums. Back in the day, we all had these albums because there was a box of them at this one record store that were cut out and on sale for 3 bucks. That’s how we got turned onto a lot of bands. We were broke and always looking for records and the local stores would end up with these great records that for some reason, no one seemed to be interested in. I got a lot of great records that either had a hole drilled through them or had the corner cut off. That’s how I got my first Suicide and Vibrators albums. I didn’t know who they were really but for an hour’s pay, it was worth it. I have a couple of Saints albums past the first two, Monkey Puzzle and Prehistoric Sounds and they’re great but for me it’s the first two and the 1-2-3-4 EP. All this stuff is in print and worth checking out if you have not already.

Young Tiger – Calypso Be: From the amazing you gotta have ‘em London Is The Place For Me series, now four volumes strong and hopefully only warming up. This series chronicles the influx of people from the West Indies to England in the fifties and the music they made when they got there. I think I got vol. 1 in London years ago and have been following it ever since. I have a lot of Calypso music. It’s a very beautiful and righteous music. The lyrics are sometimes historical tales or moral lessons on how to conduct oneself. Besides all the calypso greats like Lord Kitchener, Mighty Sparrow and Growling Tiger who made many recordings, we have Alan Lomax and his roving microphone to thank for all the hours and hours of Calypso music he recorded. Check out his Caribbean Voyage series, hell, just check out the sheer volume of field recordings he made. That will only take you a few years and then when you recover from that, if you do, you can check out all the field recordings his father John Lomax made. Without those two, so much important music from the last century would not be available. Why neither were given the Nobel is beyond me. Anyway, the London Is The Place For Me series is in print but on import and will cost you some but it’s harder to regret the records you don’t buy than the ones you do.

Charlie Parker - Oop Bop Sh'bam: From The Complete Live Performances On Savoy. In reference to what Young Tiger was saying in the previous song. This is Charlie Parker doing the Gillespie / Fuller Oop Bop Sh'bam. The Parker recordings from the Royal Roost, which is where this track was recorded, are my favorite Parker moments. As much as I like his studio work, especially the Dial Records Sessions, I think Parker really shined onstage. I think his best live recordings are captured on this set. On the Bird’s Eyes bootleg series, there are some completely insane live tracks from here and there where Parker is just out of this world but he didn’t slouch at the Royal Roost. I think one of the reasons he was so great on these New York dates is that there had to have been so many great players in the audience and he had to remind them who was the boss and in those days, when it came to Saxophone, there was Parker and then there was everyone else. One of the best biographies I have ever read is Ross Russell’s Bird Lives, hard to put down you can learn a lot about the New York Jazz scene in the 50’s.

The Channels – Flames In My Heart: Been awhile since we played some Doo-Wop. This track is taken from retrospective of Whirlin’ Disc Records, one of the many great label retrospectives released by Relic records in their series called The Golden Era of Doo-Wops. Many years ago, when I was living in New York, I would see these at Tower Records and just get them as I never heard one I didn’t like I ended up a lot of them and they’re all great. I don’t know anything about any of the bands on them though. I have never found a good book on Doo Wop. I am interested in this series of CDs because all the labels were local and independent. I found a cool site with info on the label and some of the other labels that are on Relic: http://www.iconnect.net/home/bsnpubs/fire.html.

Huun Huur Tu – Fantasy On The Igil: I am sure some hipster on another station is playing Huun Huur Tu as often as I am. I am trying to be their advance man as I know they’re coming to Los Angeles on October 10th at Safari Sam’s. If I’m in town, Engineer x and I are THERE. Let’s all go! Fuck it, let’s pack the place. Huun Huur Tu are probably the best known of the Tuva throat singer ensembles. No way did I just write that. I did. Huun Huur Tu tours regularly and when I go searching for Tuvinian throat singing music, all there is, besides Huun Huur Tu records are compilation albums of field recordings but not band efforts. The track you heard tonight is from third album Live 1. Here’s the address for their website. It’s not all that easy to find. I can’t wait to be in the same room with this sound. Here’s the address for their site: http://www.huunhuurtu.com/

Pere Ubu – Blue Velvet: From the new Pere Ubu album coming out September 19th called Why I Hate Women. If you know anything at all about Pere Ubu and its leader, David Thomas, you know that he’s no misogynist. I was reading through the press materials and David said, “My goal was to create a Jim Thompson novel that Jim Thompson never wrote.” It’s hard for me to describe Pere Ubu and David’s work. Art Rock as a description sounds like a knock off term so let’s not even try it but it is true that David’s work with and without Ubu is exploratory and never compromising. I have seen him play several times over the years and it’s always great. Pere Ubu occupies their own space and their records are always worth the trip.

Hannibal Peterson & The Sunrise Orchestra - Song Of Life: From the Children Of The Fire CD. I have been trying to remember how I got to this CD. I think it was Ian, who turned me onto Philip Cohran & The Artistic Heritage Ensemble’s self-titled album on Aestuarium Records, which I loved and started looking up information on and that’s what lead me to this album. This 1974 album is Jazz+ in that by the 70’s, new sounds and approaches were moving into the Jazz world. Check out what Miles was doing at this time. This record is probably nothing new to Jazz Fanatics but with Jazz, I have more enthusiasm than knowledge so I lucked out and found this one. It’s print and should be easy to find and worth it when you do. Makes me wonder how many more records there are like this one, out of print and not getting heard. http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=20722.

Astor Piazzolla - Street Tango: From the The Rough Dancer and the Cyclical Night album on American Clave. Have we not played this guy yet?! Damn, I’m sorry. A heavyweight, if not THE heavyweight Tango player. With his mighty Bandoneón, Piazzolla seduced and inflamed couples all over his native Argentina and the world. I remember when I was in Buenos Aires, I was happy to be visiting where Piazzolla was from. I went to my hotel room and turned on the TV only to see an old black and white broadcast of Piazzolla. I called everyone’s room and let them know. I had never heard his music before until one day I was with the members of the band and Theo brought up Piazzolla and how amazing his music was. I asked what he was all about and the rest of the band just looked at me. I seemed to be the only one in the world who had not heard of him. I asked for a title to check out and Melvin told me to check out the Zero Hour CD. I went to the record store in search of it and found it in a box set with two others, one of which being the Rough Dancer CD, which became one of my favorites. I played them all and was hooked. Since then, I have searched out his work all over the world and have found lots of CDs, some are bootlegged from radio broadcasts. Tango music is rough stuff. I don’t dance but I see how this music could get you cut up!