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THINGS THAT SPIN

Reviewed by

Tim Murphy

You Got That Uh-Uh by Banana Erectors (with Psychotic Youth) (7", Sympathy For The Record Industry)

Japan's Banana Erectors team up on the A-side with Sweden's Psychotic Youth on a song the latter band wrote but has not released, and do a garage-pop gem topped by piercing, nasal, enthusiastic female vocals. Like most great rock, it's vulgar and chiefly about sex. It's a departure for a band that usually does Ramones-inspired material, but be patient...

The B-side, 'Greyhound Love', is back to the pattern, as a simple but catchy ditty with a hint of thrashiness.

Ten (guitar), Nut (bass), Hottie (drums) and May Lemonade (vocals) kick out the jams, mamafuggers!

Emergency Election Special by Jello Biafra (7", Alternative Tentacles Records)

This record, by everyone's favourite loudmouthed activist, was made at the Green Party Presidential Nominating Convention in Denver, Colorado on June 15, 2000.

The introduction is priceless, if only for the unintentional humour of hearing "Mr. Biafra" being praised with the kind of tone and word choice usually reserved for Shriners or Red Cross award dinners, and the insert, with info, statistics and rhetoric by Biafra, Ralph Nader and the woofy Michael Moore, is informative and thought-provoking.

The record is NOT. Biafra is never boring, and the content is somewhat provocative, but it suffers from me having heard it from him before (and, for that matter, from before him).

However, I'm not exactly the target audience of the speech - it was being aimed at young American Green Party supporters - so I am perhaps being unfair. I'm sure I'll get endless pleasure from the upcoming 3-CD spoken-word set, Become The Media (ed. note - once I finally FOUND it, I have...). I just didn't get it from this excerpt.

Who Says Girls Can't Rock? by Riff Randells (7", Mint Records, P.O. Box 3613, Vancouver, BC, V6b 3Y6, CANADA, [email protected])

Kathy Camaro (guitar/vocals), Mar Sellars (bass/vocals) and Anne-Marie Rawk (drums/vocals) have ditched Sean Raggett, their former (male) singer, and struck out on their own.

Appropriately enough, they have covered "Who Says Girls Can't Rock?" by Canada's own faboo B-Girls, a late 70s/early 80s all-woman project, and given it a metallic, Ramonesy shine and crunch.

Their originals, "You Gotta Go" and "Psycho Boyfriend" (the latter benefits from not having Sean interjecting deadpan a la Fred Schneider from the b52s), also sound snotty, attitudinal and fiery. Now, get to work on that album...pretty please...(There have been some line-up changes - a rumour was posted that they had actually folded, but, according to Kathy, who wrote to me, this is not true, and they ARE working on an album - go to http://www.riffrandells.cjb.net for details.



The Last Match by Aislers Set (CD, Slumberland Records, P.O. Box 14731, Berkeley, CA, 94712, USA)

This eccentric pop project is mostly fronted by one Amy Linton, who has been known to play everything herself, though she only does on one song here, and almost does on two others.

It was recorded on eight-track reel-to-reel, which is odd in and of itself, and the sound suffers a bit here and there as the vocals are buried, obscuring the lyrics, though that may be the point.

It's full of chiming guitars and organs, with airy, broad, plaintive singing, from both Amy and Wyatt (the other multi-instrumentalist in the band, and the co-core member), though a few selections rock in a Shop Assistants/Primitives way, notably "The Way To Market Station" (been there, done that) and "Been Hiding".

It really is one of the few impossible-to-pigeonhole records I've heard lately - pop, but not pandering; rocking, but not aggressive; sweet, but not cloying; sad, but not pathetic. I can DEFINITELY file it under 'too short - give me forty more minutes!', though.

Circa by Flare (CD-EP, Subliminal Violence, P.O. Box 305, Beech Grove, IN, 461007-0305, [email protected]; band at P.O. Box 1532, Madison Square Station, NYC, NY, 10010, [email protected])

Flare has re-surfaced in another line-up!!

Like the first release, BOTTOM, this six-song EP is chiefly slow, gentle acoustic music, topped (no pun intended) by the touching, leisurely, precise vocals of the magnificent LD Beghtol (who also plays ukulele, percussion, guitar and keyboards here, unlike the first album where he 'just' sang).

He is joined by: Charles Newman (keyboards, co-producer); James Jacobs (cello); Jon De Rosa (guitar, banjo, voice); Mark Gunderman (violin), Joel Hirsch (percussion) and Miss Ida Pearle (violin). Most are bearded and biggish, with the probable exception of the latter. I could pretend this is irrelevant, but I am more shallow than that...

WOOF!!!



But seriously...of the six songs (Triumph of the Pig People, Circa, Measure of A Man, Item: June 16, Anywhere and Save Me, Save Me), none of them fails to have an interesting hook or line, with standouts for me being: "Item: June 16", with its nearly chanted monkish harmonies; "Anywhere" for its tinkling piano delicacy and high vocals; and, conversely, "Save Me, Save Me" for its rougher edges and lower voice.

You gotta love a guy who drags out Marxophones, stylophones and ukuleles and brings them back to respectability. :)



The Friends of Rachel Worth by Go-Betweens (CD, Jetset Records, 67 Vestry Street, NYC, NY, 10013, USA)

It's been quite some time since anything new has emerged under the band name, but the two songwriters, Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, have done shows together in recent years, and have finally decided to re-unite properly with fresh product.

While fabulous drummer Lindy Morrison and, particularly, multi-instrumentalist Amanda Brown, are missed, this still sounds like the Go-Betweens, since, icing aside, it was always these fellows' cake.

With the aid of Janet Weiss on drums, Sam Coomes on keyboards and Adele Pickvance on bass, the boys have produced a low-key, mature, intelligent, semi-acoustic record, many of whose tracks start out tentatively and slowly and then build to a majestic mid-tempo glow.

The ten songs as a whole are a triumph of understated wit, mood and style. Bravo...please stay together...

Hyacinths and Thistles by Sixths (CD, Merge Records, P.O. Box 1235, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514)

The 'lovely' and talented Stephin Merritt has returned with another collection of his songs performed by 'celebrities'.

This time, unlike Wasp's Nests (1995), which was big and brash, the arrangements are stripped down and melancholy, even on the few relatively dancey tracks.

I have finally heard Momus, who performs "As You Turn To Go", and, at the risk of being stereotypical, I now see why assumptions of gayness have hung on him for fifteen years. Could we lisp, coo and vocalize coyly MORE!? Still, touching...

He inflicts electro-torch upon Sally Timms of The Mekons; converts Bob Mould from punkBear to Neil Diamond doing a gay piano bar act; gives Melanie a shockingly dissolute turn on "I've Got New York"; revives music-hall for Neil Hannon on "The Dead Only Quickly"; and pits Odetta's swooping vocals against an accordion on "Waltzing Me All The Way Home."

Those are just SOME of the treats awaiting you on an album which, though it SHOULD end at 35 minutes, carries on with one repeated loop to the 61-minute mark. Buy and cry...

Freeep by Spink (CD-EP, $2 US for postage, $5 US in the world, to 4830 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, CA, 94609, USA, [email protected])

Unbeknownst to the world, this little item lurks out there with charm to spare.

Spink (Tim Halloran on vocals, guitars, keyboards, writing and co-production; Jay Fung on bass; Mike Menner on drums and Moog; and Tom Henner, piano on "This Boy") has produced a six-song EP that falls roughly into an emo category, with electronics and subtlety added.

"Everything" opens with highly processed guitar and ticking drums, followed by the introduction of a distorted rhythm guitar and philosophical discourse. "To Stand" has a tricky, jazzy chord progression and laid-back vocals. "Come To" has a funky scratch guitar, pounding drums and a thick bass line, and rocks the most of any selection here. "Hide" is experimental, with its compressed drums, extreme phasing of vocals and guitar, and feedback. "This Boy", on the other hand, once you pass the electronics and tape manipulation that open it, is an extremely beautiful piano-driven queer ballad, with the most effective use of Tim's high, keening voice. The EP closes with a Will Oldham cover, "New Partner", that is countryish and melancholy.

Pretty freaking cool, I thought, and definitely worth the postage...



Insurrection by Three Dollar Bill (CD, Stereotype Records, P.O. Box 13167, Chicago, Illinois, 60613, USA)

Jane Danger (guitar/vox), Chris Piss (guitar/vox), Jenny Evil (drums) and C.A. Matteson (bass) return with a 14-song full-length follow-up to the eclectic Getting To Know You EP that sticks closer to the queer metal-punk tip, full of fuzz-tone, thwacking drums, burbling bass and sneering vocals.

"Nathaniel", sung by Chris in his sexiest strained howl, is a thrashy tribute to the masochistic lengths we go to to try and impress a boy. Both it and Jane's "Everybody Wants A Pony" make extensive use of phasing, and possibly wah-wah, on the guitars, which you gotta like.

"First Time", by Chris, which is about sex, power and 'innocence', has neat tom-tom drums and a funky bass, which, combined with a distorted rhythm guitar, gives it a compelling drive, especially when it shifts its beat to a more direct thrust and then back.

"Femme Fatale" is not the Velvet Underground classic, but Jane's original is just as much an ironic tribute to the domineering darling as Lou's was.

"Superkool" is a portrait of a bad girl that Jane admires, and shows the lower, dark edge of her voice.

"Homo Insurrection" is a mildly goth-metal track on the fairly obvious subject, sung by both Chris and Jane.

"If You Were My Lady", by Chris, addresses heterosexism and exclusion in society based on his 'choice' of male partners.

"Thing" is a long, slightly funky, dissonant jam by Jane, with chanted/screamed vocals in alternation, and shrieking Pixies-like guitars and feedback. Exhilirating and powerful!

There is even a bonus track, consisting of an expanded cover of "Metal Man" by the Breeders.

This band sounds like it would really kick out the jams live, and this studio document is full of enough power to suggest a serious good time on stage. Hope to see them someday...

Transfused (CD, YoYo Recordings, P.O. Box 2462, Olympia, WA, 98507, USA)

This is the 'soundtrack' to a rock opera written by queer/fat activist Nomy Lamm and the dyke duo The Need, augmented by co-production, guitar and bass from Donna Dresch of Chainsaw Records fame.

The album is set 100 years in the future, when a sinister corporate agenda has taken over America (when does the (science) fiction start!?), and follows an attempt by the Transfused (working class) to rise up, or at least better their conditions.

Musically, it veers from mock light opera to Patti Smith/Jayne County full-tilt punk-rock, and the lyrics are similarly eclectic, and delivered by a wide range of powerful and distinctive singers, including Lamm herself.

Like most rock operas, its intentions are too big for its stomach, but it is highly entertaining and provocative for what it is. I am sure its staging adds the visual element that would have made me rave unreservedly; as it is, I'll say this is pretty good rock and agitpop.

From the Kitchen To The Garage by Various Artists (CD, Distortions Records, P.O. Box 57050, Philadelphia, PA, 19111, USA)

This collects an assortment of Dutch girl-groups and singers from the 60s, in an attempt to demonstrate that these selections represented a subtle, somewhat ironic turn towards feminism.

It's a slightly dubious assertion, not especially helped by liner notes that appear to have been written in English by someone whose first language was likely Dutch, resulting in some terms left untranslated and occasional awkward turns of phrase.

Since these tracks were mainly dubbed from 45s, the sound quality and information available occasionally suffer as well. As an example, I am not sure if any of these women wrote, produced or played instruments on the recordings - the facts are just not there.

However, there is good stuff here, such as: Karin Kent's "Tired, Broke and Busted" (vocal swagger, nice harmonica); Bonny St. Claire's mildly vulgar "Tame Me Tiger", which, along with Linda Van Dyck's "Unlock My Door", argues the strongest for the sexual liberation movement taking roots there at the time; Rika Jansen's camp "Marihuana Marie"; Rosita Bloom's "Kees van Mars", surely one of the few songs in existence praising the lips and fingers of alien boys; Wendy's "Bye Bye Johnny," a peculiar re-write of "Johnny B Goode"; and Rita Hovink's deep-voiced, booming "'T is voorbij".

As you may have guessed, only a few of the twenty-nine selections here are in English. The language barrier didn't prevent me from enjoying it, though!



American III: Solitary Man by Johnny Cash (LP, American Recordings)

Mr. Cash is back with a delightful collection that many thought might never be, in light of his recent illnesses and near-death. It is nice to see them proven wrong by this acoustic record.

His voice may be wobblier, but it was never an instrument of strict pitch to begin with. The feel is far more important than the technique, in this case.

Side One is all covers. "I Won't Back Down", by Tom Petty, is a determined statement that suits him well. "Solitary Man", by Neil Diamond, is a track I tend to skip. "That Lucky Old Sun" is a droll statement about the drudgery of life on Earth, and "Nobody", which is a very old song indeed, is proof of his wicked wit, since, of course, when Johnny was down, EVERYBODY rushed to his aid, unlike the character depicted therein. "One" is my favourite U2 song, though Johnny's voice may not quite have been up to it at this moment (it's still touching, though). On the other hand, the duet with Will Oldham on "I See A Darkness" is frightening and majestic, as is his take on Nick Cave's "The Mercy Seat".

The B-side has five originals, of which "Field of Diamonds" benefits from heavenly harmonies by June Carter Cash and Sheryl Crow (yes, her!), "Country Trash" is vintage funny but sincere Johnny, and "I'm Leaving Now" is a wicked, even profane duet with Merle Haggard. Toss in David Alan Coe's "Would You Lay With Me" and Dennis Turner's "Mary of the Wild Moor", as well as the lesser originals, "Before My Time" and "Wayfaring Stranger", and you have a solid, occasionally brilliant comeback. Long may he burn with passion...



Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven by Godspeed You Black Emperor! (2-LP, Constellation Records, P.O. Box 42002, Montreal, Quebec, H2W 2T3, CANADA)

Take the atmospheric qualities of the first album, blend in the dynamic extremes and build of the follow-up EP, and you get the tone of this overwhelming 90-minute document.

There are some found vocals again, be they tapes, intercepted radio broadcasts or overheard snippets quickly captured, and lots of adventurous strings, guitars, tribal drums and even horns this time around.

It is pointless to try and describe the songs of this large, shfting Montreal ensemble, both because the packaging is very ambiguous as to the contents/titles and because the selections tend to cross-fade or just continue without obvious divisions.

Sound-wise, if you like droning orchestral material with passages of great beauty, juxtaposed with loud crashing and shrieks of dense noise, this is your thing...I find it compelling in its eerie hush and ungodly (ha ha) din alike...

Best taken in small doses, though - one sitting may depress or frighten you too much...

4 AM by Lisa Marr Experiment (LP, Sympathy For The Record Industry)

Lisa, from cub and Buck, takes her cue from the latter's Christmas 1999 single, in particular its track "Christmas In My Heart", and branches out, with the help of a variety of friends, into a rockabilly/country thing of sorts.

There's a smidgen of everything here, from the frantic fiddling of the title track to the male/female vocal fued of "Beer and Whiskey", with highlights including the remotely hopeful/resigned "Another LIght" and the heartbroken tribute to a mystery woman in "Two Songs".

A 13-song crying, cheating and drinking opus - what's not to love? :)



Space and Time by Orange Alabaster Mushroom (LP, Earworm)

Greg Watson, long-time Kingston musician/resident, has been globetrotting, physically, 'Net-wise and by way of singles, tracks on compilations, etc., and now he has gathered a lot of his work in one place (albeit on a vinyl-only release from England).

This collection starts with "Your Face Is In My Mind", from the 14th Wray, a Kingston band of the late 80s and early 90s, which is an agreeably groovy psych-pop tune, aided by band-mates Gord Mylks on bass and Alan Wright on drums, as well as Greg on guitar, organ and vocals.

Most of the other tracks are one-man efforts by Greg, a la Bevis Frond, if a tad more disciplined and focused than some of that gent's material can be. If you are a fan of some of the more surreal Guided By Voices stuff, you might like OAM a great deal.

"The Orange Alabaster Mushroom", "Tree Pie", "Another Place" and "Rainbow Man" were all on The Psychedelic Bedroom 7" EP from Perfect Pop Records (1996), which was a wonderful slice of garage pop, full of wild guitars, effects and mind-alteration without drugs.

"Ethel Tripped A Mean Gloss" and "The Slug" (finally! I can say I know a song about a slug! (it's a long, boring story)) were on The Slug 7" EP from Earworm (1999), and show his greater confidence and better sound in the studio.

The other tracks are all new (42% unreleased, the sleeve volunteers), and I won't ruin the surprise, except to say that they are also excellent, if you are a fan of 60s-flavoured, psychedelic material. If you are not, you are evil, wrong and should stop reading n...