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TongueBath©1993
TOT 5 - November 1996
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Wow. 3 TOT's in one year. A record's been set. It's been 3+ years in coming, ... the flavor of this rag is starting to become diverse, genre-wise, AT LAST. Although TOT is still weak on the hip-hop/rap and worldbeat veins, some techno/electronic music labels have helped widen the breath and depth by their recent generousity. I thank you emensely! Now read on.......
ATTN: ALL LABELS...WE'RE A COLLECTIVE OF MUSIC AFFICIONADOS WITH A KEEN APPRECIATION FOR ALL MUSICAL GENRES...SKA!, JAZZ & ACID JAZZ, ETHNO/WORLDBEAT, FOLK, BLUES, HIP-HOP, RAP, AMBIENT, TECHNO,EXPERIMENTAL NOISE & REGULAR NOISE, DUB, MERENGUE, CALYPSO, SOCA, REGGAE, NEW AGE/OLD AGE, ROCK, METAL (som etimes), PUNK, HARDCORE, ETC., ETC. You get the idea. Send it ALL (this includes recurrent/re-released material, too)!! Out.
TongueBath and TOT---not just your run-of-the-mill 'punk' zine family.
KimgerlY, Publisher/Music Editor-in-Chief
NOTE: This episode includes music
reviewed between July 1996 - November 1996.
VA: ARENALIN TRANCE ACID EXPERIENCE (Adrenalin) Lurching and dream-like for hyper-simulated living.
THE TOURE KUNDA COLLECTION (Putumayo World Music) An underrated cornucopia of contempo Afro-pop outta Casamance, Senegal.
SPECTRUM Songs for Owsley (Reprise) Watch out for traces of radioactivity.
THE PHANTOM SURFERS The Great Surf Crash of `97 (Lookout!) Just swell. Dick Dale afficionados will lap this up. This will put some boogie in your ear.
MICHAEL STEARNS Collected Ambient & Textural Works 1977-1987 (Fathom) The music is soothing with low-key cosmic wave action.
MISERY INDEX 7" "Sixth Finger" b/w "Autospasm and Drown" (Cactus Prick) Chaotic, confusing, and cloudy....kinda like life itself.
BATHER'S LEGEND
(!) Kimgerly (?) GodDamn TeX ($) pIZZA mAN (@) Curtis Bay (#) GreeGree
(!)AMP Sirenes (Petrol) Teutonic plate shifting, languid, lilting, morose, atmospheric, drifts in and out....pointillistic soundsce pinned-down. Points of interest: jazzified Island riffs, Afriskamatic musical expressions, and percussion arrangements that socre high points. "Belief" crosses over from Jazz to World Beat to Island to jazz all over again----but this explains less than half of the picture. This high-cultured release requires hearing to believe it. CORNEL PEWEWARDY AND THE ALLIANCE WEST SINGERS (Music of the World) This CD is a real lesson in tribal traditions of people of the southern plains----trance inducing, meditative. Look no further than here. PORNO FOR PYROS Good God's Urge (Warner) "Thick of it All" is an instrumental thought-provoking, surreal-like sonic device. The rest, is well, more stale than a twinkie that's shelf life has expired. RED FIVE Flash (Interscope) Riding the wave of rock-n-roll mediocrity and lacking a fair amount of originality. I guess Interscope just signs anyone these days? THE REV. HORTON HEAT It's Martini Time (Interscope) Keepin' rock-a-billy alive. Lots of shake appeal. Sure to make your world wiggly and waggly. "That's Showbiz" is nice, stealthy, gratuitous testimonial closer to all the little people. RUTH RUTH The Little Death (Epitaph/Deep Elm) I wouldn't kick `em out of bed/take off my CD player...bass player is carrying, but this band is self-sabotaging because the guitarist is too busy listening to himself. SATISFACT The Unwanted Sounds of.... (Up) This release is best summed up by quoting Arthur Sullivan on seeing Edison's Talking Machine in 1888...."I am astounded...at the wonderful power you have developed and terrified at the thought that so much hideous and bad music may be put on record forever." Why is this generation so settled with emulating the past, and so lacking in any creativity? Bauhausian atonalities prevail. Insignificant. SENSEFIELD Building (Revelation) Nasty Little Man PR did a good thing when they picked-up these Art Phags. Excellent pick for an opener, "Overstand." Although they have that pseudo-SoCal formula flav in the vocals, there's more heart, lost more....not to mention, depth in the hypersensitive lyrical explorations. Musical vitality and fortitude compositionally not heard too often in rock bands of the `90s. Final kudos to Bill Krodel and Andy Wallace on the quality of this product. SOUL COUGHING Irresistible Bliss (Slash/Warner) Their previous release Ruby Vroom didn't make me whizz any gizm. Irresistible Bliss, however, is very contrary. Maybe it's the profundity of the bass lines and lyrics. Or maybe, it's just the fact that "Super Bon Bon", "Soft Serve", "White Girl", and "The Idiot Kings" have the heft and staying power similar to other heavy-fleshed bands( er, I refer to Cop Shoot Cop, for example) originally outta the Big Apple. WESLEY WILLIS Feel the Power (American) Ah, yes. And yet another schizophrenic artist. Well, now, between Daniel Johnston and Wesley, we can dub a new genre----let's call it Institutional Music. If you're not crazy now, this is the source for the lunatic fringe. Same intros and outros for each and every (24 in all) track, kook voxs....enough to make you see pink elephants, jostle your bowels, and yield a mood disorder. Mental illness is here to stay! VA: THE ALTERNATIVE DISTRIBUTION ALLIANCE CD SAMPLER (Alternative Distribution Alliance) A profound veritable plethora of aural epulations of ran-tan-tans to stoge and stuff yourself with the likes of Sebadoh and Man...or Astroman, for instance. Even includes a track by the `20s style black & white cartoons, alright! Squirrel Nut Zippers...surprise! VA: DEEP IN THE JUNGLE (Pandisc) CD stand for cool disc----electronic mix of hyper-calm ultrasonic liquid techno-jungle tracks mixed with authority. VA: JUNGLE --- The Sound of the Underground (Sour/Columbia) Mediocrity and commercialism have run amuck on this compilation. My advice is to seek out artists on labels like Subharmonic, Pandisc, Reflective, and Astralwerks for your techtronic-electronic jungle beatings. VA: UNITED JUNGLE KINGDOM (Pandisc) To quote Pandisc, "12 of the largest boomiapes. Track 4 is original; competent. ASH 1977 (Reprise) More Brit pop. So what. If you can hang in there for a complete once-thru, there's a righteous gack-o-rama at the tail. BEAT DOMINATOR Techno Base. Phase 2. (Pandisc) Most of the 16 tracks on this synth-pancake are salacious (What's new.) and worn out smarm-----Hey, these folks are outta Miami...whadja expect? Although a few tracks do put a fresh spin on the old- school house-style: "2, 4, 6, 8 Feel the Bass" lays a vocal rap-attack atop a God-deafening disco dance pace, "Jungle Techno" takes a quick Meat Beat Manifesto pinch, a tributary feel to Kraftwerk on "Vibrazone Pt. 1" and "The Rhythm" is deserving of a lap too. I give DJ Icey some well-deserved credit for "Bass Station Zero" Happy Mondays-Manchester mix. BOREDOMS Super Roots 6 (Reprise) If you can't dazzle them with brillance, baffle them with bullshit. Toned-down from their past releases. CITIZEN FISH Thirst (Lookout!) Balls-on, flat-out, hard-on skapunk. Serve the rice and beans, and go pound sand.
DESCENDENTS Everything Sucks (Epitaph) Milo's back. Waging ware against mediocrity and commercialism. Basically, this is just more easy-listening for the hard of hearing. Have a seizure while you're giving it a lap. DITCH CROAKER Secrets of the Mule (In Bloom/Reprise) Dead. Tag on the toe----slide in the drawer. FREAKY CHAKRA VS. SINGLE CELL ORCHESTRA (Astralwerks) A cataclysmic series of assorted, dancey electronic gearings and bleeds that accompany ambient, airy segues. Not recommended for New Age synth-wimps. FURIOUS GEORGE Furious George Goes Ape! (Lookout!) Yikes! It's George Tabb, the man who several years back crooned "White Christmas" on the VA: We Three Bings Xmas Compilation on Vital Music....(BTW: a must have.) `Cept, his noggin's a glazed yellow now. Same punk rock chordin' and progressions..."Betty Crocker Punk Rocker" is kinda synonymous with the notion that James Monroe was the very first punk...listen to Sockeye if this interests you. You figure it out. THE JOYKILLER Static (Epitaph) The strongest, and most innovative Epitaph release so far in `96. Big-league production quality. Strings. The whole neighborhood harmonizing on backing vocals. The Joykiller's the prime cut of the cow. LOW The Curtain Hits the Cast (Vernon Yard) Stripped to the bare necessities: soulful, solemn, sad vocals; sallow, minimalist guitar and bass; somber keyboard and percussion. Swirling-electronic feedback loops on "Do You Know How to Waltz?" Compositionally, "Anon" is quintessentially a masterpiece-----soft sustains, simple chord progressions, lyrically stark. Austere asceticism. THE MEATMEN The War of the Superbikes II (Soap/Go-Kart) To quote the Spring 1996 WREKology, The Official Program Guide of WREK-Atlanta, 91.1 FM..." a bunch of degenerates that like to play instruments simultaneously near each other, and have the cajones to call themselves a band..." You're welcome, Tesco. LEON PARKER Belief (Columbia) Pleasing. To merely classify this work as jazz serves only limit the scope of the music to something that can be classified as "the best drum and bass toonz to hit the decks." I couldn't have said it better myself. VA: Werks Like a Twelve Inch (Astralwerks) Slammin'! A paragon in his own right, DJ Grumpy reigns supreme...he's beat mixed this slab smooth like butta. Scintillating industrial art by Soul Oddity, Spacetime Continuum, 777 Freaky Chakra, Steve Fisk, and Ben Neill. Deserving of many a lap on your CD player!!
(!) & (?) VERSUS Secret Swingers (Caroline) High-culture pop-rock full of power ballads that weave thru the pop cornfield with its jangly guitars. Plenty of sugary guitar and phlegm-choked pop ingredients here. Brush teeth thoroughly afterward; this is pop music that could strip off enamel. VA: INFINITE ZERO - SAMPLER #5 (Infinite Zero/American) Fossilized grumblings from punk-funk era bands. Includes punkola archeological remnants worthy of many a spin by James White and Flipper; along with the uptight sounds of the `70s Go-Go Band Trouble Funk; the skewed rock style of Alan Vega; electronic oddities from Devo; the blazing great Delta bluesman Mississippi Fred McDowell; and effluvia "For both common and gently folk." VA: RED HOT TRIP HOP (Streetbeat) Catchy, yet it's a predictable, derivative, quasi-techo release that is staler than a chicken-fired cigar. "Feel My Soul" by E-Go Trip is etched in acid and you'll wanna do a back-flip over a chair for Beat Dominator's "Shake Your Body." But overall, we recommend scoring something off of Astrawerks, Adrenalin, or Pandisc instead.
(?)BOY IN LOVE Gleegle Eagles (Wheelchair Full of Old Men) 'Monster Truck-extravaganza-inside-an-arena' their songs are tales of love out of balance, of confinement in a torroidal oxygen chamber which collects in one's underwear before nurse Elvira comes along to tongue-up the mess. Drunken, semi-adolescents banging around on some guitars, and squawking like rabid chickens. them the coveted Golden Cowchip Award for exemplary rude behavior and beer-filled raving. A perfectly delightful mess. INCREDIBLE FORCE OF JUNIOR Let the World Fall Apart (Up) Well, lick my twizzle stick and shower me with Fiddle Faddle! These boys are crunchy; a bit generic, but still grisly and greasy enough to spread all over your CD player.
($) BAYAKA Music from the Babenzele Pygmies----CD and Book (Ellipsis Arts) This music is absolutely enchanting. Traditional singing and chanting with instruments, interwoven with the natural sounds of the African forest. In addition to the music, the book of color photographs and text thoroughly describes the culture and traditions of the Babenzele. The book is written by Louis Sarno, who has lived with the Babenzele as a member of the community. He recorded the music and forest sounds as well. A truly unique and detailed view of indigenous culture, presented respectfully and lovingly. Ellipsis Arts, 20 Lumber Rd., Roslyn, NY 11576. PLANET SQUEEZEBOX Self-titled (Independent Project) The accordion has gotten a bad rap from the very beginning of its existence. From Hitler, who incorporated it into his racist propaganda, to Frank Zappa, who characterized its insides as the worst smelling of all instruments. This instrument has never gotten the respect it certainly deserves. Well, now we have it----the definitive statement expressing the beauty, diversity and soul of the accordion. This your 3 CD box set has it all; it brings together music from the European Alps, the Mexican desert, the juke joints of New Orleans, and the polka halls of Pennsylvannia. Every continent and Issue dozens of countries are represented here. There is virtuousity and simplicity. On and on it goes! An overwhelming majority of accordion music is dance music. There is a smathering of several slow and more ponderous pieces that don’t have the prevalent dance rhythms, but most tracks will get your toes-a-tappin’at an absolute minimum. Chances are, you’ll be polka-ing, shimmying, wiggling, bouncing and bobbing across your living room floor, trying to teach dance steps to Dalmation. There are many flavors and colors, but what unifies it all is the gloriously curious, bulky, odd-looking instrument and the passionate music it spouts forth. So, take off your shoes, slip in disc one, and get ready to cut some rug! Independent Project Records POB 1033 Sedona, AZ 86339.
(@) HYENAS IN THE DESERT Die Laughing (Slam Jamz/Columbia) Hyenas die laughing, but keep smiling. Serious hip-hop from NYC. The children of KRS-1 packing SP 1200s. Music for after the bomb has been dropped. Angry! Chuck D. likes `em.for whatever that’s worth. T. J. KIRK If Four was One (Warner) T. J. Kirk's second LP hits all the right aesthetics. mixing-up tunes from the J. B’s, T. Monk and Roland Kirk. Paying tribute to these masters is fine and dandy; but performances fall short, to a lackluster almost lounge-like feel. I’d hate to be the one to say it, but basically what you have here is a bunch of white guys. The arrangements are sharp and the tunes are some the coolest on the planet (though better left to the originals). Charlie Hunter has yet to sound as good on a recording; his live shows are amazing, but on a recording, you can almost here the little voice in his head saying, "Oh shit. We're recording this!" See this group live. Enjoy this album 20 years from now when you're old and into 'easy-listening.'
(#) LINDA PERRY Inflight (Interscope) Linda attempts to bring new textures to her caustic metal genre. The rasping crescendos character building to Guns and Roses, or Metallica, feel all the more out of place from the vocalist; though, in the case of this CD, less melodramatic. Listeners may actually enjoy the high contrast of an irascible alto backing-up some innovative melodies.
NEW KINGDOM Mexico or Bust (GeeStreet) Unique harmonies and a funky beat done up slick. But, don't sell your soul for this one.
THICKNESS @ Micks, SF, CA - Oct. 8, 1996
On this nite, hepcat Dennis W. Thompson, II on keyboards along with the Apocalypse Crew of Diego on guitar, Elton on the kit, Mike Moran on bass, and Mike 'bad - assed' De Jong on alto sax, wet-up new revelations and old debates on the genre known as Acid Jazz. They were at their best when they got back to basics; head-first jazz improvisations and pure unadulterated grooves. Most astounding was this was only their second gig out! Certainly this is a formidable outfit to look out for; they did it to me in 3-D Funkentelechy.
TOT vs. TongueBath preferred 2 to 1 by readers like J. Looney, Assoc. Director Advertising, Atlantic Records