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Promo: ‘Locust Abortion Technician’, mid-80s

‘This album starts off with waves of blissful, ethereal music. Calming strings, harps, bliss…and the following dialogue: “Daddy?” / “Yes, son?” / “W-w-w-what does regret mean?” / “Well, son…a funny thing about regret is that it’s better to regret something you have done, instead of something you haven’t done. And if you see your mom this weekend, be sure and tell her…SATAN!!! SATAN!!! SATAN!!!” … and we’re shot headfirst into a sludgy, slow, bashing mangling of Sabbath’s “Sweet Leaf”, with Gibby snarling something that sounds like “RAPE!!! OF DESIRE!!!” through a pile of delays and other electronic rubble. The effect of going from that intro to THIS is about as close as you get musically to the experience of being thrown into a pit of alligators.Welcome to Locust Abortion Technician, folks…one of the two arguable peak products of the Texan juggernaut of sheer psychosis known as the Butthole Surfers.

‘To attempt to describe everything on this album is pretty much impossible. Just trust me when I say that ANYWHERE you put the needle down on this slab is going to be totally over-the-top insanity, like some deranged miswiring of rock machinery from Cologne, Detroit, Houston, and Alpha Centauri hooked up in some way that’s almost certain to cause the whole mess to explode!

‘This thing is a total mental meltdown. That’s really the only term for it. It’s beyond psychedelia, and off into some turf that would land average people in the rubber room. Musically, it’s primal, primitive, assaultive…and damn close to unique. Even their previous effort, “Rembrandt Pussyhorse”, while still being a real brain-roaster, doesn’t have the attack stance this does. There was once a rave sampler called “Only for the Headstrong”…but those who thought they were down with that would probably be psychologically incinerated by “Locust Abortion Technician”. It just ain’t right, as they say down there in the Lone Star state. If you think you can handle this, be my guest, but don’t come complaining to me when the back of your head explodes JFK-style all over the wall behind your couch. I _warned_ you, dammit. ‘ — Julian Cope, Head Heritage

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Track 1: ‘Sweat Loaf’

”Sweat Loaf’ utilizes a warped riff similar to the verse riff from the Black Sabbath song ‘Sweet Leaf.’ Sounding like the soundtrack to the mind of a deranged psychopath and then some more, it belongs in the pantheon of “Most Repulsive Songs Ever Committed to Tape”.’ — Earthworm Jim

Studio version w/ fan video

live version at the Variety Arts Center, Los Angeles 1987

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Track 2: ‘Graveyard’

‘The first version of “Graveyard” lurches and crawls all over your forebrain, tape running at the wrong speed, everything dragging like some sort of hybrid of NEU!’s “Super 16” and The Stooges on dental anaesthesia.’ — Julian Cope

Studio version w/ fan video

live version at Lollapalooza, 1991

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Track 3: ‘Pittsburgh to Lebanon’

‘”Pittsburgh to Lebanon” is basically a Chicago blues played in Surfers-mode and with suitable lyrics (“When I crawled out of my mama, well I was blind as could be, I bought my first shotgun at the age of thirty”) that mercilessly abuses the genre.’ — guypetersreviews

Studio version w/ fan video

live version at Paradise, Boston, 2009

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Track 4: ‘Weber’

”Weber’ is 35 seconds of what is basically noise. It’s no-holds-barred experimental approach is bold and daring, tried only by the fearless, and listened to by the same. Some of it may admittedly be a racket, but it’s a fearless, edgy and focused racket which is presumably meant to provoke a reaction in the listener.’ — J. Roberts

Studio version w/ fan video

live version at Music Hall of Williamsburg, 2010

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Track 5: ‘HAY’

‘The song “Hay” is actually a redone, reversed version of “22 going on 23.” The last part of “22 going on 23” what seems like mooing, is actually the main lyrics of “Hay”, only reversed and stretched. Also,in the final part of “Hay”, there is something that seems to be a high-pitched voice speaking gibberish. This is the speaking in the beginning of “22 going on 23”, including the repeated words.’ — Wiki

Studio version

Studio version slowed down and played backwards

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Track 6: ‘Human Cannonball’

”Human Cannonball’ is probably the most straightforward piece of rock music on the CD – that’s not saying it’s still not bizarre – it’s a hard-driving, bass-heavy mosh pit-inducer full of some ultra groovy lead guitar work and Gibby’s enthusiastic singing and screaming.’ — teamfreak16 @ epinion

Studio version w/ fan slideshow

live version in Houston, 2002

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Track 7: ‘U.S.S.A.’

‘The first track of side 2 was my first intro to the Buttholes. I had spent the previous evening on some particularly heavy acid, and while coming down paid a visit to my collaborator in my ambient ensemble at the time. Jim had this manic grin on, and said “Have a seat…I have something YOU need to hear…RIGHT NOW!” And he dropped “USSA” on at full-blast. I have yet to recover from this. The whole thing starts off with industrial hammering while Paul Leary spuzzes along in the key of R. Then some sadistic bastard grabs the tape speed controls, and everything lurches violently, then Gibby starts screaming “USSA!! USSR!! USA!! USR!!!” through a fatally-damaged prison PA system as someone starts scratching a record. No, not as in hip-hop. Literally. Brutally dragging the tone arm back and forth as ‘percussion’. Good Christ. Leary returns to play such great notes and “KREEANNG!!” and “SPRAIIIGNNN!!!” and “BLEAAANNNGG!” over the whole demonically-possessed mess before it all just stops.’ — Julian Cope

Studio version

live version in 1989 (audio only)

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Track 8: ‘The O-Men’

‘Sometimes considered their best song, this tour de force of metal, hardcore, bad acid and juvenilia is alternately one of the most hilarious, most experimental and most sincerely disturbing turnes of all time. “The O-Men” is the closest anyone has ever come to truly recreating the sounds of a nitrous oxide hit. Not that many other bands have even tried.’ — Mike McGurk, Rhapsody

Studio version w/ fan video

live version at Music Hall of Williamsburg, 2010

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Track 9: ‘Kuntz’ (unknown Thai artist)

‘”KUNTZ” takes a Vietnamese pop tune and subjects it to electronic manglery to get the vocalist to start going “KUNTZKUNTZKUNTZKUNTZ…”…which gets worse and worse and more brain-damaged as this short treatise on what NOT to do with effects continues.’ — Alternative Tentacles

Studio version w/ fan video

The original Thai song w/ fan slideshow

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Track 10: ‘Graveyard 2’

‘”Graveyard” is a slab of droning sludge, with incomprehensible lyrics, impossibly low and grinding bass and a pace that’s terrifyingly slow and only bands like The Melvins dare to employ. Paul Leary squeezes the weirdest solos imaginable out of his guitar, often sounding like Jimi Hendrix on a bad acid trip, or a slow motion version of Tony Iommi.’ — Rockeroll

Studio version

live version at CBGB, 1986

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Track 11: ’22 Going on 23′

‘The song “22 going on 23” brought the band to wider UK attention when it was voted number 44 in John Peel’s 1987 Festive Fifty. “22 Going on 23” gets started with a snippet of radio psychology about someone who ‘cannot sleep’ before the sludge-o-tastic Surfers kick in over the top in a groove that sounds like a poppy and upbeat…ahhh…Melvins? Over this, swirling around in stereo like evil spirits, are voices repeating fragments: “…sleep problem…”, “…anxiety…”, “…medicine…”, and the woman at the beginning who keeps releating “I cannot sleep…” It sounds like pure insanity. It IS pure insanity. And with the sound of cows mooing, the whole episode is over.’ — Julian Cope

Studio version w/ fan video

live version in Barcelona, 2008

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*

p.s. Hey. ** Armando, Hey, man. After the real Ziggy and I got back in touch for a while, we lost touch again unfortunately. He was sort of moving around, so I have no idea where he is. But he’s a fascinating guy. Yeah, there’s definitely comedy in ‘TMS’, but it doesn’t run the show like it mostly did in ‘Ugly Man’. I hope you like it, obviously. Sometimes certain old Leonard Cohen albums work for me when I’m depressed, i.e. presenting a bottomed out place whereby I can right myself by comparison, and he’s still alive, and that helps too. Take care. ** ASH, Hey, man! Really nice to see you! Thanks about my stuff. How can I read yours? Possible somehow? I’d love to. Nice latest blog entry by you. I need to get that new PJ Harvey. I still haven’t for no good reason. No England readings planned at the moment. I’m going to London in early June for an art show thing that I’ll be saying more about here soon and maybe also if the ICA presents one of the theater pieces, which is in ‘talks’. How’s stuff with you? ** David Ehrenstein, There are still Hard Rock Cafes in the States, for better or worse. At least two in LA, last I checked. Planet Hollywood is the one that went defunct, although there’s still one of them over here on the Champs Elysee catering to the foreigners who really should know better. Yaki Soba sounds quite tasty. I’m going to see if I can find it or do something with the ingredients or something. Hope you had fun with your text-based doppleganger! ** Colin, Hey, man! ** Sypha, Hi, James. It’s sad when wispy twinks try to escape their hallowed destiny. Twink porn stars often try to butch up in their mid-20s hoping to extend their careers, but it only works one of out of maybe a dozen times. ‘The Celestine Prophecy’, wow. I haven’t heard that title mentioned in … decades? One decade at least. How was/it that? ** Bernard Welt, Thankfully for me, Alan was an interrogator of the golden age type, Walter Cronkite without the … Cronkite? Oh, goodness, I’m sorry to hear that about the lunch. I suppose it would rude to propose instead a picnic along the banks of a hot tub? ** Bollo, As much as I like the idea of an evil museum wing, I hope you’re right too. Business cards … well, aren’t you fancy. I personally much prefer it when people hand me their business cards than promise to text me their info. That’s what those little pockets in wallets are for, right? Hope the paintings finished up at your command. ** Andrew, Yes, I did. Weird. She must have paid for her utilities awfully far in advance. She must have had very disinterested friends. I mean, that’s the weirdest part for me. I hope some wing of the media sticks around that story long enough to solve its niggling mysteries. ** L@rstonovich, No, they don’t, in a word. Or, rather, I’ll find out, but, to take a guess, no they don’t. East coast trip, nice. Where and for how long? What’s on your Eastern to-do list? ** Math, Hello! ** Schoolboyerrors, It’s not only priceless, it’s absolutely true, which is why it’s priceless, ultimately. You can’t put a price on truth. You’re doing pretty damned good for a blocked guy. I’ve read comments by blocked people that would make your hair stand on end. You’re doing good, man. I’m cool with tattoos, I just don’t want to get any. Well, I wasn’t so cool with all that modern primitive tattooing back in the mp/radical fairy fad days. I mean I was cool with it, but I thought it was kind of, I don’t know, lame? Or something. Yours sounds top drawer, btw. Albers, abstract structures meets the organic, etc. I’m all for and into that. A photo once it’s implanted please? ** Steevee, Nice going on the pounds, man. The only thing by Melanie Gillian that I’ve seen is this multi-part series also called ‘Crisis in the Credit System’. Based on the short maybe? It was pretty interesting. I couldn’t get a feel what exactly what she does in general from it, but it was smart and stylish and intriguing. Curious to hear how that piece is, if you go. Some interesting things in the MIgrating Forms Festival this year. Wish I was there for it. ** Pisycaca, Aw, thanks, pal. Earliest I could get my new laptop is Friday, so … we’ll see. Love from me. ** Alan, Hey, man. Thanks, you know, a lot again, you know. No, the break-ins surely helped. It’s just that in computer years, mine was already pushing it a year ago. ** The Dreadful Flying Glove, ‘Immortals’ is an interesting test. How many weird, interesting artists have said, oh, if I was rich and successful, I could even more and better weird, interesting things, then, upon finding said success, quickly blanded out? Well, I don’t have that number at my fingertips, but there must be a lot. Guitar, good, that’s no lose choice. Be like Fahey. The world needs a new Fahey. We’ve had a million new Dylans but no new Faheys or any that spring to mind this morning. ** Polter, Hey! It’s always so nice to see you! Exams definitely wouldn’t help spring be what spring is supposed to be, which is … what .. a time of flowering and rebirth, I guess, historically or mythologically. That’s true and beautifully said about dreaming what you see more realizing it’s there. Wow, that was nice. I think maybe you’re thinking more clearly than you think you are? Living on the stars with living stuffed animals would be a really nice death. It’s guess it’s remotely possible? Very, very remotely possible? I hope so. I had pets as a kid, and they all dried tragically, so maybe not having had them has a positive side? I’d love to see you whether you cut the strings or not. But of course you will. Cut mine while you’re at it. Love from me. ** _Black_Acrylic, Well, unfortunately the real PR interview is a whole bunch of me meandering on about substructures and stuff. The storm after the calm. ** Alfonso, Hey. That’s probably just a problem of the brevity of your encounter with him. I suspect he was just talking about himself, and you were, due to the surprise and quickness, functioning as a trigger of his own past, and that if you guys had talked longer, the real stuff he thinks about you would have come spilling out. I’m with you about thinking the past was meant to be that way and fuck wishing you could revise it. Yeah, Calhoun was based on a real person too. He and I are still good friends and have never stopped being so against the odds, which is great. It really does sound like the right direction is where you’re going. I’m looking forward to following your progress. Oh, yes, Ricci Forte. I know about ‘Macadamia Nut Brittle’, and I’ve been in touch with them a little via Facebook, but I didn’t get the chance to see that piece. I can’t remember if it played in Paris or not. I’m very curious about it, naturally, and they seem very cool. Great that you’re doing a workshop with them. If you want, let them know that you and I are pals and say hello to them for me. ** Christopher/ Mark, Hi, Mark! Yeah, I think Hard Rock Cafe still has a firm grip on certain parts of America. You can’t even get iced tea at Starbucks here. It’s bizarre. Really, the only places in Paris where you can get iced tea that’s not some horribly artificially flavored and bottled item is at Hard Rock Cafe and this tiny little restaurant in the Marais called American Breakfast that specializes in, yes, American breakfasts. I hope you’re doing great, man! ** Ken Baumann, If they made a movie about the life of Michael Bay, which I suppose they will some day, and if Leonardo DiCaprio played Bay, which is not inconceivable, I suppose, then there could be a really moving scene where ‘Bay’ writhes in agony and gesticulates at a cruel God while trying to figure out the tone problem in his work. I’ll co-write the screenplay with you, if you’re game. You’re so lucky about the Herzog., Fucking France, man. Wtf?! ** Chris Cochrane, Good name for a drag queen too. ** Bill, It’s weird when writers’ books start to kind of bloat once they get successful. Clive Barker, De Lillo, Phillip Roth, and on and on. I don’t think ‘Dhalgren’ counts as best seller, no. Not to me. Was it a best seller? If ‘Dhalgren’ was, it seems like it must have been one of those lucky break best sellers like ‘Infinite Jest’ or, uh … I’m trying to think of another best seller that was also pretty great. And I can’t. How was the Villaronga? ** Inthemostpeculiarway, That cockroach story was a true story. Man, you want to talk about being grossed out. I’m just counting the minutes until the combination of the Apple factory in China and the unlovely French postal service solves my Mac problem for me. For now, I’m still typing like I’m holding a little mirror under a possible dead body’s nostrils. That was intense about your angry/ crying friend. I liked the paragraph that both was and wasn’t a dialogue. It was quite formally interesting. Oh, gosh, about your friends’ theatrically cutting roommate. I wouldn’t know what the right thing to do was. Call their … boyfriend/ girlfriend, best friend, mom, … ? I don’t know. Or maybe, yeah, the tough love approach like she’s doing is right? I’m glad I’m not her much less the cutter. Based on how you wrote it, it doesn’t seem sexist necessarily to me. It’s quite odd and telling about something or other about him though. Your song of the day was moody and nice. I guess I have a song of the day because it was playing on the sound system of the supermarket, and then it got stuck in my head only because was a big hit here a few years and has a catchy thing going on in it, and this is it. My day yesterday was actually pretty busy. Uh, first this guy Isaac from Love Magazine came over to interview me. He was really cool, and it was actually fun and interesting to talk to/with him. He even said he would put together a guest-post for the blog about … well, you’ll see. Then it was time for the photo session, so he and I cabbed it over the 13th arr., which is this part of Paris where you never go unless you live there unless I’m missing something, because Love Magazine was using a studio there to shoot the portraits of the Paris-based interviewees: me, Christophe Lemaitre, and Charlotte Rampling, not in that order obviously. So, anyway, the photographer and all the magazine people there were very nice, and they managed, thanks to an undercoating of organic white cotton, to dress me up and style me to a point where they were okay with me and I wasn’t suffering apart from a slight numbness that I get when the allergy thing is set off in a mild way. I was in a high collar Dolce & Gabanna shirt, a Kooples jacket, a bowtie by some fashionable bowtie designer whose name I didn’t catch, and with an Alexander McQueen overcoat draped over my shoulders. I turned down the hats and gloves they wanted me to wear. They let me be myself from the waist down because they were doing a roughly head and shoulders portrait. Then they shot me moving my head and eyes around slightly at their commend for about forty five minutes. They asked me if I wanted to see the photos, and I said no, but I did see one of them in the corner of my eye as I was leaving, and I thought I looked like an eighty year-old vampire, so I don’t want think about the portrait anymore until it’s published and I have to. Then Isaac metroed back here with me, and he went off to take a nap before, I think, interviewing Charlotte Rampling. So, it was okay, and hanging out with Isaac was cool. Then I ate food quickly, met up with Kiddiepunk, Oscar, and Yury, and we went to see Hunter Hunt-Hendrix perform at the gallery where the show of Gisele’s photos is currently on display. H-HH might be familiar because I posted something by him in the last Varioso, and he heads up the band Liturgy. So, he performed — chanting which he looped and looped into this dense drone then played complicated drone guitar over which he looped and looped and then chanted again and looped that until he was finished. I really liked it. Afterwards, I talked to him for a while, and he was cool, and he was already interested in the theater pieces by Gisele and Stephen and me, and we made plans for all of us to meet up when Liturgy comes back to Paris on tour in the fall. Then I came home, did some internet stuff, watched an episode of ‘Twin Peaks’ dubbed into French on Arte, and crashed. That was my day. How was yours? ** Misanthrope, Is that true about big heads? Interesting. But … what about the Elephant Man? Wait, I guess he was successful in a kind of horrible (for him) way. Let them eat sheet cake! ** Okay, your gig this time centers around an ultra-great album by the younger and ultra-great Butthole Surfers, so everyone wins today, and congratulations! See you tomorrow.

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‘Prog Rock is a style of rock music originating in the 1970s as part of a mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility. It is characterized by large-scale compositions, often on epic themes, in which musicians display instrumental virtuosity. John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just “succeed the pop of the 1960s as much as take its rightful place beside the modern classical music of Stravinsky and Bartók.” It’s strange now to imagine that the weird, pretentious music could ever have been so popular. Yet it was, and bands such as Muse and Radiohead carry the torch, and James Cameron’s sci-fi epic Avatar was one long tribute to prog cover art. Prog Rock is thought by some to be the final evolution of Rock music, using over-the-top insane musical composition and impossible-to-understand lyrics about moonchildren, tales from topographic oceans or “man-ergs”. Supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer were prog’s biggest stars, selling tens of millions of albums. They also became a byword for onstage excesses that included an entire orchestra, a piano that whirled through the air, a two-and-a-half ton stainless-steel drum kit and a revolving drum riser. The band Yes was nearly as popular as ELP, and provided what is generally considered to be Prog’s nadir moment or death knell when ex-Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman, flush from the success of his concept album Journey to the Centre of the Earth, decided to go one better. For 1975’s The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, he put on three performances at Wembley Arena – on ice. It was seen as the apex of prog silliness, but the album sold many millions of copies. “There are people who think the film This Is Spinal Tap is simply a very funny ‘mockumentary’,” Wakeman said in later years. “Well, with Yes we lived it.” Bruce Eder claims that “the rot” in progressive rock “started to set in during 1976. He claims that “the end [of progressive rock] came quickly: by 1977, the new generation of listeners was even more interested in a good time than the audiences of the early 1970s, and they had no patience for 30 minute prog-rock suites or concept albums based on Tolkien-esque stories.”‘ — collaged from various sources

 

 

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‘Soft Machine were formed in mid-1966 by Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals), Daevid Allen (guitar) and Mike Ratledge (organ). Named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs, they were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre. Though they achieved little commercial success, they are considered by Allmusic to be “one of the more influential bands of their era, and certainly one of the most influential underground ones.”‘ — Wiki

Soft Machine ‘Moon in June’ (1969)

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‘Quatermass was a British progressive rock band formed in London, England in September 1969. The trio consisted of bass player and vocalist John Gustafson, keyboardist Peter Robinson, and Mick Underwood on drums. Their first and only album sold itself through “…compactness, wealth of ideas, forceful lead vocals and complicated arrangements, enriched by pianist Robinson’s tasteful use of classical strings which are on display along with spacious keyboard passages. Major commercial success eluded the band throughout its brief duration.’ — carolhynson.co.uk

Quatermass ‘Laughin’ Tackle’ (1970)

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‘Magma is a concept band whose albums explain the origins and development of the new civilization on Kobaia, and their interactions with the people of Earth and other planets. All of their lyrics are sung in the language of the new civilization, ‘Kobaian.’ As one might expect, the music from Kobaia several hundred years from now is very unlike what we are accustomed to on twentieth century planet earth. Led by drummer Christian Vander, Magma began in the final months of the sixties in France, pretty much apart from the underground music scene of the times. In fact most of the original members had worked in other rock and jazz groups before, although without much notoriety.’ — furious.com

Magma ‘Discorama’ (1970)

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‘King Crimson may be the only commercially important prog rock band to blend dazzling musicianship with real artistic integrity. From the start a vehicle for guitar virtuoso/avant garde mastermind Robert Fripp, they have a long and complicated history of lineup changes, breakups, and shifts in style. But in every period they’ve managed to come up with at least one great record, and they’ve never either sold out like ELP, or bogged themselves down in pompous self-indulgence like Yes. Unfortunately, Fripp’s experimental edge has resulted in quite a few misfires. You’ll have to dig carefully for the few Crimson albums that stay on track with crafted songwriting and economical arrangements.’ — warr.org

King Crimson ‘Larks Tongues in Aspic’ (1974)

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‘I know it’s hard to believe, but once upon a time the band that goes by the clumsy-but-cool name of Atomic Rooster were really BIG. Well, not as BIG as the BIGGIES of the time (the time: early Seventies), but definitely bigger than they are today, MUCH bigger considering that today they’re hardly known to anybody at all. Nowadays, when we say something like “Carl Palmer joined ELP after leaving Atomic Rooster”, it might not mean anything; back then, it was a typical indication of the fact that ELP were going to be a real supergroup. However, they were really only big in the UK, and even then, only for about a year and a half. Verdict: this brief stint of popularity was well-deserved, the disappearance from the musical horizons was well-deserved as well, yet this does not warrant our forgetting the band at all.’ — starling.rinet.ru

Atomic Rooster ‘A Spoonful of Bromide Helps The Pulse Rate Go Down’ (1972)

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‘Henry Cow were an English avant-rock group, founded at Cambridge University in 1968 by multi-instrumentalists Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson. Henry Cow’s personnel fluctuated over their decade together, but drummer Chris Cutler and bassoonist/oboist Lindsay Cooper were important long-term members alongside Frith and Hodgkinson. An inherent anti-commercial attitude kept them at arm’s length from the mainstream music business, enabling them to experiment at will. Critic Myles Boisen[1] writes, “their sound was so mercurial and daring that they had few imitators, even though they inspired many on both sides of the Atlantic with a blend of spontaneity, intricate structures, philosophy, and humor that has endured and transcended the ‘progressive’ tag.”‘ — thisislike.com

Henry Cow ‘Beautiful as the Moon’ (1976)

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‘Formed on the late 60’s by the Shulmman brothers, GENTLE GIANT is known as the paradigmatic progressive rock band. With an uncomparable musicianship, they went as far as no one ever did into unexplored grounds in the progressive music, navigating over dissonant 20th-century classical chamber music, medieval vocal music, jazz and rock. They explored Moogs, Mellotrons and Fender Rhodes usage with such majesty! Not to mention other instruments like oboes, violins, cellos and horns among others.’ — progarchives.com

Gentle Giant ‘So Sincere’ (1974)

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‘The band that eventually became known as Pink Floyd started by performing covers of American R&B; songs. When Syd Barrett joined the group in 1965 he began writing most of the band’s songs, and moved the group into the burgeoning psychedelic rock movement. Surreal lyrics and experimental electronic effects established the band as the British epicenter of psych rock. After two albums, Barrett self-destructed due to mental instability aggravated by drug use. He was replaced by David Gilmour in 1968. The band continued to expreriment, increasingly incorporating classical and jazz influences into their music.’ — classicrock.com

Pink Floyd ‘Careful With That Axe Eugene’ (1973)

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‘Can was an experimental rock band formed in Cologne, West Germany in 1968. Later labeled as one of the first “krautrock” groups, they transcended mainstream influences and incorporated strong minimalist and world music elements into their often psychedelic progressive music. Can constructed their music largely through collective spontaneous composition –– which the band differentiated from improvisation in the jazz sense –– sampling themselves in the studio and editing down the results; bassist/chief engineer Holger Czukay referred to Can’s live and studio performances as “instant compositions”.’ — spoonrecords.com

Can ‘Spoon’ (1974)

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‘Like most Progressive Rock bands, ELP were heavily and mercilessly criticized by some music critics. Critics frequently lambasted the band as pretentious, not without some validity. However, the particularly venomous criticism itself frequently approached the overreaching self-importance that the critics so despised in the band. One critic asking, “how do you spell pretentious? Emerson, Lake, And Palmer?” typifies the reaction of a critic. With an even more cruel take on ELP, even going on to insult the group’s sizeable fan base, Robert Christgau said of the band “these guys are as stupid as their most pretentious fans”. Christgau also called ELP the “world’s most overweening ‘progressive’ group”.’ — Wiki

Emerson Lake & Palmer ‘Knife Edge’ (1970)

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‘In August 1972 Camel signed with MCA Records and their eponymous debut album was released six months later. The record was not a success and the band moved to the Deram Records division of Decca Records (UK). In 1974 they released their second album, the critically acclaimed Mirage on which Latimer showed he was adept on flute. Although failing to chart at home, it gained success on the U.S. west coast, prompting a three month tour there. Released in 1975, the instrumental, orchestrated concept album Music Inspired by The Snow Goose, had been inspired by the Paul Gallico short story of the same name. This was the breakthrough album that brought Camel wider attention, but not without controversy. Gallico, who loathed smoking, thought the band were related to the cigarette brand and threatened to take legal action. Camel avoided this by adding the prefix ‘Music inspired by…’ to the album’s cover. The album’s success led to a prestigious sell out concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London, with the London Symphony Orchestra in October 1975.’ — camelproductions.com

Camel ‘Never Let Go’ (1973)

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‘Amon Duul emerged from the radical West German commune scene of the late 1960s, with others in the same commune including the future founders of the Red Army Faction. Founding members are Chris Karrer, Dieter Serfas, Falk Rogner, John Weinzierl and Renate Knaup. The band was founded after Weinzierl and the others met at the Amon Düül “art commune” in Munich. The commune consisted mainly of university students, who formed a music group initially to fund the commune, with initially everyone who lived there joining in to play music whether or not they had any experience or ability. The commune split when they were offered an opportunity to record, which was boycotted by the more musically proficient members of the commune (who went on to form Amon Düül II). Recordings were made by the other members but were of very poor quality and were only released later (under the name Amon Düül) to capitalise on the success of ADII’s albums. As Amon Düül II grew and personnel changed they still remained a commune, living together as a band.’ — last.fm

Amon Duul II ‘Phalus Dei Part 2’ (1970)

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‘Genesis began as a 1960s pop band. During the 1970s, they evolved into a progressive rock band, incorporating complex song structures and elaborate instrumentation, while their concerts became theatrical experiences with innovative stage design, pyrotechnics, elaborate costumes and on-stage stories. This second phase was characterised by lengthy performances such as the 23 minute “Supper’s Ready” and the 1974 concept album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.’ — genesis-music.com

Genesis ‘The Musical Box’ (1972)

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‘Family were an English rock band that formed in Late 1966 and disbanded in October 1973. Their style has been characterised as progressive rock, although their sound often explores other genres, incorporating elements of such styles as folk, psychedelia, acid, jazz fusion and basic rock and roll. The band achieved recognition in the United Kingdom, through their albums and appearing at festivals, but were unable to attract the same level of attention in USA. The band’s rotating membership throughout its relatively short existence led to a diversity in sound throughout their different albums. Family are also often seen as an unjustly forgotten act, when compared with other bands from the same period and have been described as an “odd band loved by a small but rabid group of fans”.’ — MusicBrainz.com

Family ‘In My Own Time’ (1970)

More

Todd Rundgren’s Utopia ‘Seven Rays’ (1978)

Hawkwind ‘We Took the Wrong Steps Years Ago’ (1971)

Jethro Tull ‘Thick as a Brick’ (partial, 1978)

The Trip ‘Caronte’ (1971)

Gong ‘Fohat digs holes in space’ (1971)

Rush ‘Bastille Day’ (1976)

Van Der Graaf Generator ‘Lost’ (1974)

Yes ‘Roundabout’ (1973)

Eloy ‘Decay of Logos’ (1971)

Procol Harum ‘Repent Walpurgis’ (1971)

Manakin ‘Something is Locked Inside of my Soul’ (1978)

Moody Blues ‘Gypsy’ (1970)

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p.s. RIP: Paul Violi. Hey. ** Math, Super interesting. Kind of what I had guessed but much more complicated and fascinatingly rendered and revised. Was the piece interesting enough for you as a writer to continue down that course in some way? You certainly don’t need to since your own pure voice is great, but you know how I love experimenting with my voice to get it shifted, so I guess I wondered. Anyway, I’m obviously really glad the workshop paid off for you. It was obviously a great thing for us, and it’s echoing through the thinking and comments very interestingly too. Thank you a whole bunch, pal. ** Oscar B, It’s true. It’s all true. Later, nachos, etc., babes. ** Pascal, Yeah, the Aprilness is quite pleasant here too. That kind of deliciously neither here nor there thing is in the air. ** Jax, Hey. Glad you liked the pix. Actually, the Museo Galileo was one of the total highlights. Great museum, well worth a visit if you get to Firenze. Me too: sometimes discarded pieces that didn’t quite work when I was going for something in particular will suddenly perk up when I’m free of that something in particular as my goal. Plus, I’m the kind of writer who likes and maybe needs to be working on something to feel content. And having something in progress always really helps when you have a book coming out and are about to face that whole initially scary and usually disappointing experience when the first judgements start flying around. The Radio Lab thing sounds to have been totally great. Yeah, the co-mingling in a quality way with other artists is really heady, and, sure, the theater work brings that up. I really hope the thing in London is as rich if not more. Let me know. Man, as I keep saying, it’s such a joy to get to experience second hard the kind of renaissance of your writing and love of writing. It’s beautiful. Yury’s better. The doctor said it was an allergic reaction, probably to pollen. ** David Ehrenstein, Yeah, the Trevi Fountain was insanely mobbed. By far the most mobbed attraction we saw on our whole trip. Weird. ** FreeFox, Oh, ha ha, yeah, normal vacation. Or normal vacation surroundings, at least. The head is where the real, abnormal stuff happens, and I guess it can accommodate almost accompaniment. No, I never think about my, whatever, image or whatever public perception there is of me, although I did stick those pix of the serial killer museum in because I thought it would be kind cliched/funny. In truth, we didn’t even go in, just cruised the lobby. ** Pilgarlic, Hey, man! I’m so sorry to hear you’ve been ill. I had pneumonia once, and it was really taxing and strange. But you’re on the total mend, yes? Sorry about Blogger’s bad behavior. It can be such a jerk. So, have you been pretty much down and out while I was away? All the best of the best to you. ** Sypha, Hi, James. Yeah, I agree that pushing obsessions aside is a real good idea ‘cos, for one thing, if they come back, you know they’re somehow important to you. Avoid that stomach flu if at all possible, ugh. But that’s really good news about the future hanging out with that guy. Soon, I hope? Nice development, for sure. ** Alan, Cool. ** David, I heard ‘The Black Dahlia’ was basically a miss. I wonder what happened to DePalma. He used to be fairly usually worth seeing for one reason or another. I think the last film of his I liked more than didn’t was ‘Snake Eyes’, and even there the good had almost only to do with his crazy camera pans. ** Steevee, That’s a shame about the Burzum. The last one kind of never really took much hold of me either in the long run. ** Hyrule Dungeon, Hm, good question. The law of averages? More centuries of weird stuff available to mine? ** The Dreadful Flying Glove, Hey. So I did an old prog day. Whim, I think. Any thoughts? I think my favorites are the stuff that got tagged prog by proxy. The German stuff, Soft Machine, Family. But some of the pomposity is interesting. And some of the detailing like in K. Crimson. Putting it together was interesting. Peter Gabriel was such a dweeb back then. Etc. The Guess Who … hunh. When I was in this kind of heavy ‘power pop’ fascination phase in the 70s, I remember thinking that they were more interesting than people who only knew the hits thought. ‘The Cutter’ is a great song. For me, ‘Heaven Up Here’ is their masterpiece. It’s still in my top ten favorite all-time albums after all the years. Funny Burzum prank piece. The gay thing was a little heavy handed though to me. Pulled me out of it. ** Christopher/Mark, Aw, thank you. That’s really a high compliment, given the wonderment of your eye and art. Love to you too. ** Casey McKinney, Hi, Casey. Oh, I don’t have any set summer plans, I don’t think. Or not lengthily away ones. So maybe let me know a general idea of your window of travel, and it’ll most likely be just fine on my end. That URL, sure, hold on … This is it. The review of the review being written incrementally. You’ll see. Sure, I’ll ask aloud about the Wallace review. Everyone, the honorable Casey McKinney is seeking someone who would be interested in reviewing David Foster Wallace’s ‘The Pale King’ for the great Fanzine site, and he thought one of you amazing people might be game. Are you? I guess if you are, either say so in the comments or contact Casey through Fanzine. Awesome opportunity, guys. Thanks for asking if I’m interested. I think I’m too far away from my journalism side and rusty to take on a major thing like that novel. Love, me. ** Inthemostpeculiarway, The face fountain weirded me out too. That’s why I included it even though there’s a lens flare on the picture. No, being close to the friends limit on Facebook is just annoying, really. I mean, yeah, it’s definitely cool that 5000 people want to be my friend, of course. I always think it’s strange that people get their nails done, but, mm, why not, I guess, and it’s really not that strange. Nail polish smells good. I didn’t know or at least remember if you told me that the barista is all into the Bible and stuff. That’s sad. I mean that he’s so into it that he wants to spread the wisdom or whatever. I guess there’s something innocent about it that’s sweet. But I also think, oh, the poor thing. Hm. Your mention of the dollar store made me realize that I don’t think there are dollar — or I guess euro — stores here in Paris. I wonder why. My day: Let’s see … Oh, Kiddiepunk and Oscar B and I went to see the Stanley Kubrick exhibition at the Cinematheque Francais. It was pretty cool with props from the movies and behind the scenes stuff and period reviews and kind of what you’d expect. Like the monkey suits from 2001 and the axe and typewriter from The Shining and so on. It was worth pushing through the big crowds. This guy who interviewed me once happened to be there, and he asked me if I was me, and I said yes, and he gave me a new book he edited called ‘Mondo Movies et Films de Cannibales’. It’s in French, but it has lots of pictures, so it’s cool to have. Gisele called to ask if I want to go see the great Japanese experimental music artist Ryoji Ikeda play on Friday with her and Stephen, and I said yes. My agent wrote to say that the UK-based magazine Love, which is a Conde Nast/Vogue spin-off fashion/style thing, wants to a big piece on me, and was I okay with doing that, and I said sure. I wrote a bit on that fiction thing I mentioned. I thought I had missed the finale of that French Top Chef show that I’m kind of addicted to while I was away, but it was on last night, so I watched it. My favorite, Pierre Sang, who was the most adventurous contestant, got voted off first, and it was only Fanny, whose food making skills weren’t that interesting, and Stephanie, who it seemed like would win from the beginning because everything she makes is really conservative, going head and to head, and, yep, Stephanie won, and that was kind of a boring conclusion. Then I slept. I also ate and smoked and showered and stuff during the day, of course. So, I think that was it. And your Tuesday, please? ** Paul Curran, Thanks, Paul. You should go to Venice. Venice is amazing and insane. You would have never found your brother there. It’s such a maze. Ongoing best possibly thoughts and vibes on your strengthening. ** Misanthrope, I like the sound of that Wrestlemania. It had a classic WWE quality. Yeah, I think bands run by a single talent that go democratic in order to satisfy the members’ egos rarely ever succeed. But sometimes, I guess. But I guess I’m mostly thinking of bands whose main songwriter quits or dies or something and then it turns out there was another pretty big talent lurking in the group. Like, oh, Joy Division/New Order. Or, even though I’m not a big fan, Depeche Mode only got more successful after Vince Clarke quit. And I guess there are others. It’s a fine line, like you said. I mean, being different is always better than being stagnant. But sometimes it’s better to go defunct than go either of those routes. But I guess it’s hard to know when you’re stagnant if you’re making lots of money doing what you do. Or something. Hm. ** Okay, I thought I’d dredge the 70s prog rock genre up from the mostly dead on behalf of a post and see what happened. So, what happened? I guess I’ll see tomorrow when I see you.