#popwatch

Hey there!  Fuckin’ Record Reviews returns from its extended 2019 Tumblr dead mall hiatus in anticipation of its yearly celebration of the worthiest contemporary combustible sonic art 2019 had to offer, which will be published tomorrow, 1/1/20. But while you wait, feast on this:     

“Galaxie’s ability to take the most obvious ‘rock’ objects/chords (like, say, open G) and make then sound like they fucking invented them is downright mindboggling, and the manner in which they’ve mapped out their own little shimmering universe to crawl around in is one of the real treats of the last year.”

GALAXIE 500 review by JIMMY JOHNSON, Editor

FORCED EXPOSURE #15 page 83 Summer 1989

As is taught in elementary schools across the United States these days, GALAXIE 500 broke up in 1991 around the same time as the Soviet Union. In the 30 years since Jimmy Johnson wrote this fuckin’ record review, a few things have happened: 

DEAN WAREHAM formed LUNA in 1991, who wrapped up activities in 2005, but then reformed around 2015.  The band will be touring the USA and Canada in 2020!

Dean also consolidated forces with ex-Luna bandmate Britta Phillips for DEAN & BRITTA. One of the things they do is write soundtracks for well regarded movies like The Squid and the Whale.  Dean can be found in 2019 at deanwareham.com.

GALAXIE 500 drummer DAMON KRUKOWSKI and bassist NAOMI YANG  joined with FRR heroes WAYNE ROGERS and KATE BIGGAR to form MAGIC HOUR (1993-1996), but have made excellent dream pie recordings as DAMON & NAOMI since 1992.  They also operate Exact Change Press, which “...publishes books of experimental literature with an emphasis on Surrealism, Dada, Pataphysics, and other nineteenth and twentieth century avant-garde art movements.”

Today can be found in 2019 at the Galaxie 500 bandcamp page, among other places.

Speaking of Wayne Rogers and Kate Biggar, we gotta give a shout out to our award winning 2015 post about their pre-Magic Hour band, the amazing CRYSTALIZED MOVEMENTS: GOD-BLESSED ZONK ROCK: THE STORY OF CRYSTALIZED MOVEMENTS IN FOUR PARTS, which was an authorized 21st century celebration of  the band’s interview in Leslie Gaffney’s  POPWATCH #4 (1993). 

“…imagine the Godz jamming with Art Ensemble of Chicago…More of the Godz’s flattering ineptitude you’ll find on the collaboration with Wild Man Fisher…the good parts certainly make it worthwhile.”

SMEGMA and SMEGMA/WILD MAN FISHER* reviews by MR. LESLIE GAFFNEY

POPWATCH #9 page 118 Summer 1998 LESLIE GAFFNEY & MR. LESLIE GAFFNEY Publishers & Editors

Derailroaded: Inside The Mind Of Larry ‘Wild Man’ Fischer (2011): “A precursor to punk, Fischer became an underground club and concert favorite, earning him the title of ‘godfather of outsider music.’ Over the course of his 40 year career, Fischer has performed constantly, is the first artist ever recorded on Rhino Records, was featured on ‘Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In,’ had a top hit in the UK on John Peel’s Festive Fifty, was the subject of his own comic book, was a mainstay on the Dr. Demento Show, and even sang a duet with the late Rosemary Clooney. DERAILROADED traces Fischer’s life from neglected child to troubled genius through archival footage and personal interviews with family, friends, and industry professionals, including: Frank Zappa, Gail Zappa, Weird Al Yankovic, Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo, Solomon Burke, Dr. Demento, and Barnes and Barnes. Prepare to be moved, amazed, and repelled, but ultimately come to know what it is like to be profoundly DERAILROADED.”

SMEGMA site!

Popwatch boss of bosses Leslie Gaffney is rumored to lead a life of contemplative snow shoveling somewhere in the Commonwealth Of Massachusetts.

“Yo...this Drunks single...ummmm...NEXT!!” - Lou

DRUNKS WITH GUNS and PLASTIC CLOUD reviews by LOU BARLOW and BOB FAY

POPWATCH #4 page 60 1993 LESLIE GAFFNEY, Publisher & Boss

Yo...DRUNKS WITH GUNS are touring September 2018! From Bill Pearis at Brooklyn Vegan (8/13/18): “Drunks with Guns are now going on what they’re calling their “first tour in 30 years,” including East Coast shows. The only announced shows we’ve found so far are NYC’s Brooklyn Bazaar on October 12 with Brandy (ex-Pampers) and Conduit (tickets); and Philadelphia’s Ortlieb’s on October 14 with Rubber and Storks (tickets).” 

The Plastic Cloud has been reissued many times since this 1993 review of the 1990 The Laser’s Edge cd reissue, most notably by Light In The Attic with full remastering and booklet by guitarist/vocalist Don Brewer.

LOU BARLOW continues to hit the loobiecore stump well into the 21st century with Dinosaur Jr, and Sebadoh and solo!

BOB FAY of Sebadoh and Deluxx Folk Implosion continues to talk about music he digs

FUCKIN’ RECORD REVIEWS!

We’ve been quiescent since July 2017, it is true. Since launching in July 2013, we’ve in fact experienced several periods of dormancy. Such is the nature of the lonely cave obsessive, even though our offices sit high atop some fancy building in Gotham.  But…now…we’re…BACK! (again) 

You know who else is back…sorta? The CRYSTALIZED MOVEMENTS. 

From Forced Exposure: “Limited 2017 LP reissue of the first Cystalized Movements LP, Mind Disaster, in paste-on sleeve replicating the original 1983 edition – on the original label, Twisted Village.” 

And for your leisurely scroll today, recall that FRR posted a stellar tribute to the Crystalized Movements back in April 2015, lifted with permission from Popwatch #4 (1993)…feast your eyes, indulge your ears. 

GOD-BLESSED ZONK ROCK: THE STORY OF CRYSTALIZED MOVEMENTS IN FOUR PARTS

Leslie: “Lotta stuff coming out.” Wayne & Kate: (Long exhausted sigh) “Yeeaah”

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

“…Bruce Cole, Jon Ashline and a handful of drinkin’ buddies  build their typical Monster of Frankenstein tunes out of recycled Byrds, Seeds, and Kink riffs…”

SCREAMIN’ MEE-MEES review by MR. LESLIE GAFFNEY

POPWATCH #9  Summer 1998 (page 115)

LESLIE GAFFNEY & MR. LESLIE GAFFNEY, Publishers & Editors

R.I.P. Jon Ashline (2012)

“...pal, take a big bite of this beautiful sweetness.”

BUTT RAG #7 November 1991 (page 58)

BARBARA MANNING review by PETER MARGASAK, Editor

Previously on Fuckin’ Record Reviews:

MAKING LOOSE THE ENDS THAT MEET: THE BARBARA MANNING POPWATCH INTERVIEW IN THREE PARTSf rom POPWATCH #4  (1993)

BARBARA MANNING interviewed by LESLIE GAFFNEY

PART 1

PART 2

“...Gutteridge and Snapper have produced some beautifully hypnotic records...” - DAN VALLOR

XPRESSWAY PILE=UP, PART 9 by DAN VALLOR

PART 1: Intro and The DEAD C. “Even at its most structured, The Dead C. consistently has a sound so involving that it has a meditative quality.”

PART 2: THIS KIND OF PUNISHMENT “There are some fine moments on this release, but this is not the place to start with this otherwise exceptional band.”

PART 3: WRECK SMALL SPEAKERS ON EXPENSIVE STEREOS: “…bits of psychedelia similar to the Television Personalities from that era, but more prominent are elements of early-80′s Pere Ubu…WSSOES used electronics while avoiding the techno-pop cliches so prevalent in NZ and the international music scene at the time.”

PART 4: ALASTAIR GALBRAITH “…this is all pretty much a major work of art…in fact is among the most beautiful music I know…”

PART 5: XPRESSWAY PILE=UP “Perhaps it took a while for Russell to secure the rights for some of the earlier material, but it’s a blessing that he was clear enough in vision to revise Pile=Up into the important work it became.”

PART 6: I HATE PAVEL TICHY’S GUTS “A tiny review in Forced Exposure might have caused something of a stir as it was one of the first X/Way tapes to garner press in the states.”

PART 7: THE DEAD C “The Dead C. has followed countless musical paths since the release of The Sun Stabbed, but the EP represents some of the most distinctive. It is the document that vividly defines their early work.”

PART 8: THE VICTOR DIMISICH BAND “...favored something of a denser and darker sound than their southern Dunedin neighbors, expressed through a bleak vision and Velvet Underground inspired abandon…even in those early years, the brilliance of this band shone blindingly…”

POPWATCH #9  Summer 1998 (page 50)

LESLIE GAFFNEY & MR. LESLIE GAFFNEY, Publishers & Editors

Previously on Fuckin’ Record Reviews:

Pure was reissued in 2013 on deluxe double vinyl by the Chaos In Tejas people, who also have something to do with the 540 Records label. Buy it here.

Gerard Cosloy’s review of Pure from CONFLICT #50 (Fall 1989): “Peter Gutteridge is a big deal Dunedin pop icon…[with] a knack for the grayer, more repetitive side of things that we haven’t heard previously…Marty rev counterpart, maybe, except there’s no phobia towards guitars or manually played percussion if need be…”

Farewell to Peter Gutteridge (5/19/61 – 9/15/14) fromhonor harger

The entirety of Dan Vallor’s Xpressway history is available in viewable form as a lovingly (i.e., much better than FRR’s) scanned PDF with one simple click…you’ll never believe what happens next!

DAN VALLOR is well regarded as a musician, archivist and all around good human by those who know. He’s the producer of those essential GAME THEORYreissues Omnivoreput out the past few years, but also works under the name CLARINETTE/KLARINETTE and has a brand new long player coming out on Feeding Tube Records on3/24/17!

Order CLARINETTE’s The Now Of Then at Feeding Tube or Forced Exposure; Byron Coley summarizes Dan Vallor’s work: “In the 15 years since Thurston and I released the first Clarinette LP, Haze (Ecstatic Yod), Dan Vallor has continued to produce music unabated. Most of it has been released in very limited editions (on CDRs, cassettes and lathes), but it has been a consistently cool flow of drone accrual and invention from a guy we still sorta think of as pop-oriented. Dan’s best known work probably remains his archival activities inside the archives of the late songwriting genius, Scott Miller, although others may know him from his efforts to catalog the output of the NZ lathe underground. Clarinette is a long running solo project that began in the ’80s, then went dormant until early in the 21st Century. The music is largely based on electric guitar huzz and hum, but there are plenty of sound events that pop up throughout the record, disturbing and enriching the surface with sproings, rasps and groons. The pieces on The Now of Then are all fairly reflective, and probably more suitable to stoned drifting than freak dancing, but hey — it never pays to second guess audience reaction. If you feel the urge to freak, so be it. Clarinette’s music definitely twangs the freak register. Who are we to say you should remain seated?”(2017)

“...the perfect NZ supergroup with David Mitchell of Goblin Mix and the 3Ds on guitar, Peter Jefferies on drums, and The Rip’s Alastair Galbraith and Robbie Muir on guitar and bass respectively...it’s the familiar chemistry of these friends that gives Galbraith’s voice a more optimistic timbre than his solo work.”  - DAN VALLOR

XPRESSWAY PILE=UP, PART 13 by DAN VALLOR

PART 1: Intro and The DEAD C. “Even at its most structured, The Dead C. consistently has a sound so involving that it has a meditative quality.”

PART 2: THIS KIND OF PUNISHMENT “There are some fine moments on this release, but this is not the place to start with this otherwise exceptional band.”

PART 3: WRECK SMALL SPEAKERS ON EXPENSIVE STEREOS: “…bits of psychedelia similar to the Television Personalities from that era, but more prominent are elements of early-80′s Pere Ubu…WSSOES used electronics while avoiding the techno-pop cliches so prevalent in NZ and the international music scene at the time.”

PART 4: ALASTAIR GALBRAITH “…this is all pretty much a major work of art…in fact is among the most beautiful music I know…”

PART 5: XPRESSWAY PILE=UP “Perhaps it took a while for Russell to secure the rights for some of the earlier material, but it’s a blessing that he was clear enough in vision to revise Pile=Up into the important work it became.”

PART 6: I HATE PAVEL TICHY’S GUTS “A tiny review in Forced Exposure might have caused something of a stir as it was one of the first X/Way tapes to garner press in the states.”

PART 7: THE DEAD C “The Dead C. has followed countless musical paths since the release of The Sun Stabbed, but the EP represents some of the most distinctive. It is the document that vividly defines their early work.”

PART 8: THE VICTOR DIMISICH BAND “…favored something of a denser and darker sound than their southern Dunedin neighbors, expressed through a bleak vision and Velvet Underground inspired abandon…even in those early years, the brilliance of this band shone blindingly…”

PART 9: PETER GUTTERIDGE “…Gutteridge and Snapper have produced some beautifully hypnotic records…”

PART 10: ALASTAIR GALBRAITH & GRAEME JEFFERIES “This is a pinnacle of Xpressway’s brilliance, a tremendously spare and beautiful song…while they never lose control they do teeter now and then - only adding to the magic. Galbraith and Jeffries throw themselves at these moments with a glorious sense of spontaneity.”

PART 11: PETER JEFFERIES & ROBBIE MUIR: “…this is perhaps the apex of Peter Jefferies’ lengthy career…sears like some sort of acid shanty.”

PART 12: THE DEAD C. PERFORM DR503b:  “…the resurrection of ‘(Beyond Help From) Max Harris’, a cacophonous strum and twang…an epic 12-minute masterpiece of varying layers and one-half of one of the greatest works never heard outside of their small community until this release.”

POPWATCH #9  Summer 1998 (page 51)

LESLIE GAFFNEY & MR. LESLIE GAFFNEY, Publishers & Editors

Previously on Fuckin’ Record Reviews:

The entirety of Dan Vallor’s Xpressway history is available in viewable form as a lovingly (i.e., much better than FRR’s) scanned PDF with one simple click…you’ll never believe what happens next!

DAN VALLOR is well regarded as a musician, archivist and all around good human by those who know. He’s the producer of those essential GAME THEORY reissues Omnivore put out the past few years, but also works under the name CLARINETTE/KLARINETTE and has a brand new long player coming out on Feeding Tube Records on 3/24/17!

Order CLARINETTE’s The Now Of Then at Feeding Tube orForced Exposure; Byron Coley summarizes Dan Vallor’swork: “In the 15 years since Thurston and I released the first Clarinette LP, Haze (Ecstatic Yod),Dan Vallor has continued to produce music unabated. Most of it has been released in very limited editions (on CDRs, cassettes and lathes), but it has been a consistently cool flow of drone accrual and invention from a guy we still sorta think of as pop-oriented. Dan’s best known work probably remains his archival activities inside the archives of the late songwriting genius, Scott Miller, although others may know him from his efforts to catalog the output of the NZ lathe underground.Clarinette is a long running solo project that began in the ’80s, then went dormant until early in the 21st Century. The music is largely based on electric guitar huzz and hum, but there are plenty of sound events that pop up throughout the record, disturbing and enriching the surface with sproings, rasps and groons. The pieces on The Now of Then are all fairly reflective, and probably more suitable to stoned drifting than freak dancing, but hey — it never pays to second guess audience reaction. If you feel the urge to freak, so be it. Clarinette’s music definitely twangs the freak register. Who are we to say you should remain seated?”(2017)