The Fat Angel Sings

For the uninitiated, Duet Emmo is a collaboration between Graham Lewis and Bruce Gilbert of Wire—who had been recording as a duo under the name Dome—and Daniel Miller, the man behind The Normal and founder of Mute Records. (The project name is an amalgam of Dome and Mute.) The trio got together in late 1982 to experiment in the studio, leading to a single full-length that explores and explodes their interests in electronic music, drone and art pop.

“Or So It Seems”. Taken from the forthcoming reissue of Duet Emmo’s album ‘Or So It Seems’, newly remastered from the original tapes.

The album seems to be slowly dissolving as it moves forward with the proto-industrial pieces on side A giving way to quietly unsettling instrumentals on the flip. It all sounds even more mind-altering on this vinyl edition thanks to the remastering work of Stefan Betke (aka Pole) and includes, on one side of a second disc, a remix of the album’s title track (originally released as a B-side) that takes the original song to fresher, druggier zones.

 I love the creativity of this album. Its beautiful, ominous, and it takes you on a mystic journey. The album was originally released in 1983, and was the act’s only release. The result was the perfect amalgamation of Miller’s hard-line electronics and Gilbert and Lewis’ abstract and sparse textures, exhibiting why the anagrammatic combination of Dome and Mute was a fitting name for this project.

released August 19th, 2022

There are times when a set of recordings begs not only to be re-mastered and reissued, but restored according to the artist’s original intent. “Mirror Man Sessions” is an unqualified success of this sort. It’s a re-sequenced approximation of the planned, half-live-in-the-studio/half-studio double album “It Comes to You in a Plain Brown Wrapper”, which Beefheart and his band started on several months after the release of their debut, “Safe as Milk”. Most importantly, the disc includes many of the songs off the botched “Strictly Personal” album (the tapes of which were maliciously slathered with heavy echo and phasing effects by producer Bob Krasnow, without Beefheart’s approval) in blissful clarity.

The sound throughout is vibrant, with all the sparks of the dual-guitar interplay and massive slide sound that would typify the Magic Band in years to come. The album has far fewer tempo changes than “Milk” or the records that follow it; the band for the most part digs deep blues-based grooves and stays within their confines. But there are lengthy, monochromatic stomp-trance workouts, such as “Tarotplane” and “Gimme Dat Harp Boy”, which stretch out and explore John French’s jagged drumming, the guitarists’ uniquely deft, pan-tonal playing, and Beefheart’s harp playing, gruff vocal style, and impressionistic lyrics.

The US vinyl LP Buddah BDS 5077 was released in May 1971 in a die-cut gatefold sleeve with only 4-tracks (Buddah 2365 002 in the UK) – “Tarot Plane” (19:00) and “Kandy Korn” (8:00) on Side 1 and “25th Century Quaker” (8:59) and “Mirror Man” (19:00) on Side 2 – the liner notes erroneously claimed that the album was live material ‘recorded one night in Los Angeles in 1965’ – perhaps in some club – which just wasn’t true.

Beefheart and his gang of four had gone into TTG Studios in LA in October 1967 and recorded three tracks ‘live’ in the studio with further rough studio sessions taking place in November. Buddah didn’t like what they heard and put the whole project on indefinite hold. They then sent the Captain and his boys over to England (where they were more popular) to be championed by a true fan – BBC Radio 1’s most famous DJ John Peel. Some of the songs and sessions were added to, remixed and so on and came out on the second official album “Strictly Personal” in October 1968.

Time passed and with the November 1969 double-album “Trout Mask Replica” and a new LP on Reprise Records in “Lick My Decals Off, Baby” from January 1971 all gaining traction – someone went back into the vaults and chose the above four mentioned tracks to clump together as a new album on Buddah Records – “Mirror Man”. Apparently Beefheart knew nothing of its release and as the songs were ‘unfinished’ or ‘crude’ – he remained somewhat ambivalent towards their merits – decrying it as some critics had initially done – then being ok with it as the LPs heavy-blues-jam rep began to build over the following years – some even saying it was as good as his blistering and accessible “Safe As Milk” debut from November 1967.

Whilst researching a new release in 1991 – England’s Sequel Records went into the vaults once again and subsequently found and reissued more of the previously unissued session tracks – calling their 11-track January 1992 CD compilation “I May Be Hungry But I’m Sure Not Weird – The Alternative Captain Beefheart” on Sequel NEX CD 215 (Barcode 5023224121523).

Which brings us via a circuitous route and several mushroom pies to June 1999 and this BMG ‘Buddha Records’ reissue of nine tracks (note the deliberately inverted spelling on the last two letters of Buddah). As the liner notes advise – due to time constrictions you get the original four songs of the “Mirror Man” LP and five additional outtakes – all stripped of unnecessary overdubs and as close as Buddha feel they can get nearer to the Captain’s original vision.

UK released September 1999 (June 1999 in the USA) – “The Mirror Man Sessions” on BMG/Buddha Records 74321 69174 2 (Barcode 743216917426) is an ‘Expanded Edition’ CD Remaster of nine tracks that plays out as follows (76:23 minutes):

Tracklisting:

1. Tarotplane (19:08 minutes)
2. 25th Century Quaker (9:51 minutes)
3. Mirror Man (15:47 minutes)
4. Kandy Man (8:07 minutes)
5. Trust Us (Take 6) (7:06 minutes)
6. Safe As Milk (Take 12) (5:01 minutes)
7. Beatle Bones N’ Smokin’ Stones (3:11 minutes)
8. Moody Liz (Take 8) (4:34 minutes)
9. Gimme Dat Harp Boy (3:31 minutes)

Musicians:
CAPTAIN BEEFHEART (Don Van Vliet) – Vocals, Harmonica and Shinei
JEFF COTTON – Guitar
ALEX St. CLAIR SNOUFFER – Guitar
JERRY HANDLEY – Bass
JOHN FRENCH – Drums

In the 12-page liner notes JOHN PLATT (with thanks to Mike Barnes) finally makes available the convoluted history of these amazing recordings – the ‘Wrapper’ sessions as they’re sometimes called (Beefheart wanted the “Strictly Personal” album in a plain brown wrapper envelope sleeve). There are some classy black and white photos of the boys looking suitably Avant Garde and discordant meanderings. You get in-depth reissue credits and the ‘One Nest Rolls After Another’, and the ‘I Like The Way The Doo Dads Fly’ poems reproduced.

While all that explanation sorts things out somewhat, the amazing new Audio brought to us by Elliott Federman that was done over at New York’s SAJE Sound Studios. The LPs were always being accused of being ‘muddy’ and some excuses were forthcoming because the takes were ‘one’ and ‘live in the studio’. Suddenly even that gruff harmonica warble that opens up the nineteen-minute monster that is “Tarotplane” sounds unbelievably ‘right’ – like the power has been given back to the gruff. And as Beefheart growls with his ‘on your mind’ string of consciousness – those vocals are so damn good and those harmonica stretches punchy and mean. This sucker grooves – the band digging into that chug – and even if the recordings are a bit rough around the frothy gills -made the performance feel alive and better for it.

You could argue that the three lengthy grooves here are merely Blues Jams with jerky Avant Garde Jazz rhythms as a side-order that should have stayed in the can or even been refined into something neater and better. When you listen to “25th Century Quaker” and you’re grooving to those clear as a bell cymbal and drums crashes, those moaning notes as the Captain mumbles into his Harmonica – I can’t imagine any way these could have been ‘edited’ into something tighter or better. Indulgent I know but it can also be argued that their very expansiveness is their joy. And would we want that mad ending to “Quaker” any other way. The fantastic groove his ensemble get on “Mirror Man” – the kind of sound no other band could have achieved.

Lean and mean and unbelievably tight – Take 12 of “25th Century Quaker” hits you with a wall of voices and that stabbing guitar beat and it has awesome remastered sound. Don’t really like “Take Us” no matter what Take it is. We go all ‘strawberry mouth and butterfly’ with the Japanese-sounding “Beatle Bones N’ Smokin’ Stones” where the Captain seems to taking a sideways jab at the Liverpudlians and their Forever Fields. The dark – the day – the light – don’t you just love that voice and that sheer bat crazy mentality – and again beautifully remastered. God help us all but “Moody Liz” even sounds vaguely commercial (love those vocal harmonies). And “Gimme Dat Harp Boy” sounds like a piece of harmonica genius that have should been released as a single just to annoy the neighbours…

Of course “The Mirror Man Sessions” is not going to be a sonic soundscape everyone wants to go picnicking in. Note: Seven more tracks from this session are included on the reissue of “Safe as Milk”. 

The release of the Dunedin Double in 1982 featured four young bands: the Verlaines, Sneaky Feelings, The Stones and The Chills with each band having 3 or 4 tracks on their 12” EP side. It’s a rough affair showcasing the potential of each artist as much as what their juvenile selves were about at the time. Despite this, it was a high profile release with The Chills that generated the most chatter.

In a way, The Chills’ musical ambitions transcended the simple recording experience of the recording. The listener senses the possible beyond the tangible actual.

These were early days for all concerned and already The Chills were being thought of as the band with the most promise, on whom hung the highest expectations and who showed the greatest ambition; they were the band who were starting to be touted as The Clean’s heirs.

The growing feeling was that here was an important alternative music minded pop band in the making. While the early 1980’s was a time for Joy Division and The Fall to be lounging around on the New Zealand charts, it was also a time for new style pop to be flourishing. One (not unreasonably) hoped that a market might exist for quality bands and their songs – somewhere between the grim post punkers of the English north and the pop chart mulch; the likes of the Human League, Spandau Ballet and Flock of Seagulls.

A band with ambitions needs quality songs, and The Chills had better songs than most. It did no harm that young band leader and songwriter Martin Phillipps was quietly cute and shyly charismatic. In the 1980’s musical mainstream you needed songs and good looks. The Chills were marked out as having a chance of some sort of success in New Zealand and if they had ambition, stamina and enough good luck (because successful bands are built on good luck as much as everything else), who knew what was possible. 

The Dunedin Double was recorded in April 1982 and was being reviewed in June. The Chills had some momentum. In May, their debut 7” single “Rolling Moon” had been recorded in Auckland by Doug Hood and Chris Knox on his Teac 4-track – as was “Bite”. “Bite” was joined on the B-side by “Flame-thrower” which was recorded live at the Rhumba Bar (at the filmed all day show on the 15th May 1982 with The Clean, This Sporting Life, Tall Dwarfs and The Stones).

“Rolling Moon” was the catchy tune everyone was waiting for. A pop song that was adventurous and experimental. A song that is exhortatory, optimistic and uplifting with allusions to the feelings and colours of summer. A song that is amplified by the presence of a benign, rolling and active moon and the childhood desire to stay up late and not go home. There is the sense of the childlike innocence and wonder that listeners will come to associate with much of the Martin Phillipps ouvre. 

For the B-side, Martin Phillipps was determined to stay connected with his “Neat Neat Neat” punk “roots” with a hard and fast song. ‘Bite” is short and fast and is dedicated to Chris (Chris Knox). “Flame-thrower” is a long standing live favourite with an unusual song structure that quietly builds and then intensely instrumentally burns to a climax.

Despite the tight turnaround between recordings and releases in 1982, there were some changes in band personnel during this time. Fraser Batts left and original keyboardist Rachael Phillipps returned, and original drummer Alan Haig departed with Martyn Bull joining.

“Rolling Moon” was released in the nick of time for Christmas 1982. It charted at Number 26 and then number 50 for the last chart of the year. That was the sum of its chart action. In hindsight, we should have shown patience, held it over to the new year, tied it to a tour and better coordinated the sales and chart action in the less cluttered early time of the year. It did however sell steadily as a part of the Flying Nun back-catalogue. Proper record companies didn’t really release singles in picture sleeves or keep them available as a part of their back-catalogue. It was too expensive to the point of a loss on every copy sold. Flying Nun did keep these releases available as they were usually the only way that these recordings were available and could be heard. It seemed like the right thing to do by the artist and their audience. The covers were relatively expensive but important; the buyer got to see some art that gave them an insight into the psyche of the act.

The “Rolling Moon” cover is a Martin Phillipps artwork based on the idea that the band members have superpowers. They are depicted photographically against a green and white background with a Chills “logo” lettering and a friendly cartoon moon. Our heroes have special powers. Terry has excellent  vision, Martyn can fly like a… um… seagull, Rachael has a flame-thrower like fireball thing going on and Martin has a “super-ring” (it’s a bit unclear what that does). Martin shows good taste and reinforces the band’s place in Dunedin music history by wearing a Clean t-shirt.

Unfortunately the first print run of this cover was a printing disaster. The printers mislaid the separation with the superhero band members and the covers were printed with white blanks where the band members were meant to reside. There was immense pressure to get the record out for Christmas and a short term solution was found in the making of a large rubber stamp to “print” the figures over the blank part of the cover. The result was particularly ugly. Fortunately, the printers found the missing separation, printed the cover as intended and rushed them to us. But some of the “rubber stamped” copies escaped the office. Certainly to reviewers (who needed them urgently to review before the year ended) and possibly elsewhere including the band who were rightly horrified. I would say that the records with these immensely ugly sleeves are probably the most collectable of all Chills released artifacts.

“Rolling Moon” represents The Chills at the start of their journey proper. It’s not a great recording by later standards but easily good enough to allow the song to shine. It’s the start of a journey that Martin Phillipps is determined will become a career.  And despite a few rather serious hiccups, a career is what it has become with Martin and The Chills recording and releasing great music to this day while touring New Zealand and internationally to promote them.

Info and words from Roger Shepherd, founder of Flying Nun Records.

Due to overwhelming demand, Eddie Vedder and bandmates the Earthlings, The Earthlings are drummer Chad Smith, keyboardist/guitarist/vocalist Josh Klinghoffer, bassist Chris Chaney, guitarist/vocalist Glen Hansard, and guitarist Andrew Watt. This is Eddie Vedder’s mightiest statement as a solo artist, surpassing both his “Into the Wild” soundtrack and his slightly odd “Ukulele Songs” record.

“Earthling” shows the Pearl Jam leader as an alt-rock journeyman. The opening call to action on the album’s first track, “Invincible,” sets the album off perfectly, while standouts like “Long Way” and the quieter “The Haves” showcase his signature confidence. If you are expecting the hard rock sound of Pearl Jam, you may be disappointed, but the intriguing and catchy “Brother the Cloud” gets close at its apex. This is Vedder feeling comfortable in his maturity.

To celebrate the forthcoming album, the two singles, “Long Way” and “The Haves” are out now!

The highly anticipated album “Earthling” is set to release on Friday, February 11th.

Right from the beginning of “Our Love,” the opening track to the third full-length album from London rock outfit Fresh there is something different. Synths! Leader Kathryn Woods is still able to go from a conversational tone to a snarl in an instant, but the new element adds something to the mix. While the album has tracks like “Morgan & Joanne” that work with the band’s signature sound, elsewhere it seems like this is a collection about further sonic expansion.

Third album from London DIY punks; they have been an unwavering fixture within the UK punk scene since their first record in 2017. A joy to behold live, Woods honed her craft not only fronting “Fresh” but as a member of several heralded indie and punk bands, including cheerbleederz and ME REX alongside Fresh bandmate Myles McCabe. Their new album radiates with their signature mischievous British charm and flourishes of brilliant pop punk flair – though underestimate Fresh at your peril. “Raise Hell” dares to dive deeper than most, delivering Woods’ darker moments and contemplative thought processes through the sharply focussed lens of upbeat indie punk. Since their inception the band have been working tirelessly recording and touring.

Listen to the horns that burst in on “Going to Bed” and the gentle, quiet passages of “Sleepover.” This is the sound of a band seemingly effortlessly expanding beyond their punk-pop roots and heading into more nuanced territory without selling out their original vision. “Fresh” have really honed their sound without losing the joy of the early stuff. The album runs to about half an hour, which I also like. 

‘Raise Hell’ is out via Get Better & Specialist Subject Records

The Loyal Seas – “Strange Mornings in the Garden” If you’ve ever loved the work of Tanya Donelly in the bands Belly and Throwing Muses, you’ll probably enjoy the debut album by the Loyal Seas, her new duo with singer-songwriter Brian Sullivan, who is previously known for his work under the moniker Dylan at the Movies. “Strange Mornings in the Garden” is a relaxed set of songs, rooted in peaceful, almost dream-pop-like sonic textures and gentle melodies. The interplay between Donelly and Sullivan on standouts like “(So Far From) Silverlake,” the infectious and bouncy title track, “Driving with a Ghost,” the lightly new wave-infused “Milkweed” and the slightly orchestral “Swimmers in the Gold” make this an appealing, tightly focused mood piece of a record.

The Loyal Seas is a new collaboration between Tanya Donelly (Throwing Muses, Breeders, Belly) and Brian Sullivan (Dylan in the Movies). Their debut full-length features 10 glorious originals.

The Loyal Seas are Brian Sullivan and Tanya Donelly “Swimmers in the Gold” released American Laundromat Records, Inc. Released on: 2022-04-06

Not just a great name. Their drowned out, electronic Mexicana-vibe makes this girlband sound like the soundtrack to a classic western B-movie. Expect addictive instrumentals that go from danceable to jiggable. Grab a tequila and get ready to party.

A uniquely inventive instrumental dance-rock band with a international background and a truly worldly sound, Los Bitchos have an absolute riot on their debut, mixing up everything from Eighties teeth metal to Colombian cumbia, to surf rock and psychedelia, to disco and funk. Their music is playfully exotic but also invitingly lived-in, the sound of finding your voice in the flow of the world, and unlike a lot of instrumental music, they keep the listener’s enjoyment front and center by orchestrating each of their two-to-three-minute ditties for maximum pop impact, so songs like “The Link Is About to Die” or “Pista (Fresh Start)” have just as many memorable hooks as thick grooves or hot solos.

 This band were made to soundtrack your next big rager. Inspired by the Colombian genre Cumbia, the London-based – but very international – four-piece sprinkle disco sparkle, funk bounce and psych noodling onto those foundations to create something fresh and with an intoxicating power that makes you feel like you’re permanently three shots deep. ‘Good to Go!’ is taken from Los Bitchos’ debut album “Let The Festivities Begin!”

“Bugs Bunny” out via Strong Island Recordings 2nd of August 2018

Capturing Lou Reed in his formative years, this previously unreleased collection of songs penned by a young Lou Reed, recorded to tape with the help of future bandmate John Cale, and mailed to himself as a “poor man’s copyright”, remained sealed in its original envelope and unopened for nearly 50 years. Its contents embody some of the most vital, groundbreaking contributions to American popular music committed to tape in the 20th century. Through examination of these songs rooted firmly in the folk tradition, we clearly see Lou’s lasting influence on the development of modern American music – from punk to art-rock and everything in between. 

“Words & Music”, May 1965 reveals a different facet of Lou Reed’s artistic heritage which might be not obvious behind the media image of the Velvet Underground and his later solo project. It tells a story from a different perspective. The format of the May 1965 compilation predates DIY records by punk bands in the 70s. It makes one wonder whether Lou Reed was hoping that this sealed tape would be discovered in the future. If it is meant to be a time capsule, the goal is achieved.

Countless people over the years have aped the Reed formula, from studiously appropriating his clothing style to trying to pan sonic gold from the “one chord enough/two chords pushing it/three chords jazz” approach. Lots have gone on to make interesting things from these base materials (lots also haven’t), but it’s difficult to argue that anyone since has projected cool with such quiet force. While how much of this came naturally to Reed and how much of it was studied is up for debate – he was as much a master of image as he was of songwriting – the core appeal of his work, particularly in those groundbreaking early years leading The Velvet Underground, was that steely poetry, that street-level intellectualism, that promise of illuminating danger which emanated from behind his dark shades. Reed was incredibly good at saying more with less – years before ‘The Velvet Underground & Nico’, my man was disciplining every string on his guitar to the same note in order to engineer his music for maximum impact.

So it’s interesting, then, that around the same time that he laid down ‘The Ostrich’ he was also holed up making the recordings collected on ‘Words & Music“, May 1965’. The Reed we find on these crackly lo-fi demos is rather different from that which we encounter in public. Where The Velvets found Reed with a wall up to the world, his focus containing multitudes, these tapings present a disarmingly and wonderfully boyish individual finding his artistic voice amidst the bohemian gutters of mid-century New York City.

Take, for instance, the go of ‘I’m Waiting For the Man’ which kicks off ‘Words & Music, May 1965’. The track may now be canonised as one of the all-time great odes to scoring drugs, but here there is little of the imperviousness that Reed would bring to the track’s most famous version that was released two years down the line. His delivery is sweetly fallible – he’s nervous, babbling to his dealer and reassuring himself by talking directly to the audience. The hip chug of the album version is nowhere to be found either, his guitar loping endearingly while a fantastically wheezy harmonica interjects at points.

This energy carries on through the other once-and-future Velvets classics. Try not to be charmed by the sheepish giggling that introduces ‘Heroin’, or the wandering, Dylanite quality that’s coaxed out in this take of ‘Pale Blue Eyes’. While I still think the final editions of these tracks have the edge, these versions are arguably all the more fascinating for their embryonic nature – the control exuded by Reed when The Velvets were freaking out on ‘Heroin’ may have elevated the performance to greatness, but the candidness of this demo, particularly when the lyrics remain viscerally affecting no matter the context, is a big part of its vitality.

Intriguingly, it is actually the tracks on ‘Words & Music, May 1965’ which are less prominent in The Velvet Underground’s story that evidence more strongly the style Reed was developing in anticipation of that group. On ‘Too Late’, a track which was never recorded again for any Reed project, we start to hear a bit of that Velvets tone in Reed’s delivery – declamatory and sinuous, bawdy yet collected. Ditto the droning and scratching of ‘Stockpile’. Then there’s the burgeoning interest in transgression – we’ve already noted the ‘Heroin’ lyric, but ‘Buttercup Song’ and the tequila sunrise of ‘Men of Good Fortune’ are full of Reed’s screwball observations. In particular, the latter, with its genderfucking narrative voice, finds Reed in full Wildean flow.

Had it come out during his lifetime, I’m not sure how much interest Reed would have publicly expressed in a project like ‘Words & Music, May 1965’ – he was generally keen to present himself as an artist looking to the future or the fringes, concerned with the past only when triple-distilling the alchemical elixir of rock ‘n’ roll. And yet this is precisely why ‘Words & Music, May 1965’ makes for such a wonderful listen. Reed would never have let us see this version of himself at the time, but having access to it now presents his achievements in a new light, reframing but not diminishing his legacy as the King of Cool.

[A metallic silver colour vinyl pressing, an indie store exclusive yellow color vinyl pressing, and a deluxe double-LP pressing with bonus 7” are available.]