RIO Drop-In Centre

Why? A lot on your mind?

I was in town today and I bumped into my mate Al and was chatting about Can and VdGG.  I said I was getting into Japanese stuff and he mentioned the Boredoms straight away, haha.  He's not heard of OOIOO though.  I may have converted him.

Assaf: I got your e-mails... your instructions didn't work, I still cannot get to the link!  Yes I am logged in as well...

I must nod in agreement with you TP. Unforunately I only have one album by the band "Tales Of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death"

There is a little review to get everyones fancies going.

"Idiot Flesh was an experimental/avantgarde group that later developed into the San Francisco based Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. They released 3 albums and a single EP during their existence in the 1990s. "Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death" was their first outing. There are many different genres and styles all mixed up into a circus-like atmosphere of craziness. Like SGM, Idiot Flesh worked off a mix of dark and threatening-sounding influences, but with less cohesive melding and far more jump-cuts: They would snap on a dime from Metal to Industrial to RIO to 20th Century Classical Quotes and then off the map to Funk or Vaudeville or Country and back just as fast. (Sometimes they resembled a really evil version of Gentle Giant.) As a result, they often sounded more overtly "prog".
Idiot Flesh also used to put on an even more theatrical performance than SGM does: Besides the gargoylish makeup and costumes, they used elaborate props, including giant foam-rubber masks, sets, and inflating suits. Their shows often opened and closed with rackety vaudevillean routines done in and through the audience. On top of this, they worked with many auxiliary sideshow performers, such as the fire-dancer Beefra the Cook, Hatcha and Datcha the Siamese Twins, a Punch and Judy show, and a number of others. All of this made touring a nightmare, although they did manage to get on the road several times a year.
Artistically, the band seemed to aim mostly at repeatedly whapping audiences upside the head to jolt them out of seen-it-all indifference. This worked: they had quite a following in the Bay Area. However, they never seemed too clear on what more they meant by all the quick changes and bizarre visuals. The lyrics didn't help much - they usually put forth sardonic jokes, ruminated about the contradictions of performance and the ironies of pop culture, or wallowed in a self-conscious dark ugliness. Most of the words to Nothing Show derived from their obscure, involved band-mythology. Sometimes Idiot Flesh just seemed like the World's Best Novelty Band (well, West Coast of the US, anyway), although they always offered a wild ride and never failed to deliver on that promise. But at the end, they had started to do more, had begun to find an emotional core in all the routines and style-changes, appeared to have found out what they wanted to say with them. And, although the usual tensions and frustrations caused the Idiots to go the way of all Flesh, much of what they'd become at the end continued on into Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. Highly recommended."

    

I came so close to winning a new copy of Guapo's Hirohito on ebay but lost the auction in the last 30 seconds (as I was about to outbid the guy).

Equality 7-2521 wrote: Why isn't Idiot Flesh listed on the archives?

Oh, I didn't realise they were not, I guess they will have to go through the selection process. They indeed are a sorely forgotten about band.


Joren is that a Bathory album I see as your Avatar
    

Edited by Black Velvet - August 17 2006 at 21:22

avestin wrote: I saw today a Massacre (Tzadik, 1999 - Fred Frith, Bill Laswell, Charles Hayward) album - Funny Valentine in the store. I have Killing Time (Celluloid, 1981 - Frith, Laswell, Maher) which I like a lot and I was wondering if it would be a good purchase, based on that?

Bump...

^^^Sounds very very interesting to me. Can we hear samples or something?

Abux Dangereux is a very nice album, and surprisingly, one I was trying to remember for another thread (thanks!). Came out on CD a couple years ago and immediately disappeared (I think Wayside had some copies recently), with the tracks in a different order than the LP (I prefer the album -- not sure if it's only because that's my first acquaintence with it or what). The group's released several after this, which I haven't heard, but apparently this (their first) is the best; I understand they got sort of "popular jazz" somewhere down the line, but you certainly can't go wrong with Le Quatrieme Mouvement.

Hi everyone. I'm getting myself one of John Zorn's "quiet". I'll post my first impressions later this night.




This one:

John Zorn - Redbird

Track listing

1. Dark River (8:52)
2. Redbird (41:01)

Total Time: 49:53

Line-up

- Jim Pugliese / bass drums (1), percussion
- Carol Emanuel (2) / harp
- Jill Jaffe (2) / viola
- Erik Friedlander (2) / cello
- John Zorn / conductor

And a little description:

Proving once again that some of his most beautiful pieces come when he is paying tribute to someone, Redbird, a tribute to the artist Agnes Martin, is a work of ambient and minimalist grace. The album consists of two pieces: a shorter percussive piece called "Dark River," and a 41-minute work for harp, viola, cello and percussion called "Redbird." Each conveys a hypnotic quality that does justice to its subject. Martin is an incredibly spiritual artist, whose minimal gestures on canvas and paper exude auras of calm. Redbird captures that sense in music and, in its continuity, becomes one of Zorn's most effective tributes. As always, Zorn has managed to collect a group of extremely talented musicians, and their execution of this album makes it even more perfect.