Negativland — Escape From Noise

• Artist: Negativland
• Title: Escape From Noise
• Year: 1987
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 3
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1987 – Bought for myself when I worked at Mother’s Records and Tapes in Hampton, VA.
• Keeper: Maybe

For the most part this isn’t music; it’s what I would call audio art. Lots of noise from various gadgets, talking voices, etc. I think in 1987 I was buying pretty much everything the record label SST was putting out. They have a following and maybe knowing that also prompted me to check it out. I would guess that their fans are what people from my planet would call “nerds.”

Noteworthy, and maybe another reason I bought it is the long list of artists who made contributions to Escape From Noise: Jello Biafra, Steve Fisk, Fred Frith, Jerry Garcia, Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubauten), Mickey Hart (Grateful Dead), Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo), The Residents, and others.

I’m committed to playing all these records before I write about them. Mary asked me to please finish playing this one while she took the dog for a walk.

I don’t imagine I’ll ever play this again, but I’m on the fence about keeping it unless I can find someone who wants it. Like I said, they do have fans. And the teenager in me finds that “CAR BOMB” bumper sticker funny. Maybe I’m a nerd too.

MC5 — Back In The USA

• Artist: MC5
• Title: Back In The USA
• Year: 1970
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1987 ? – Another MC5 platter with mysterious origins. I’m pretty sure I got this one at Vinyl Solution in London. Which is way ironic…
• Keeper: Yes

This is the second record by MC5 and it was stunning in its restraint compared to the freaked out Kick Out The Jams. Of course I didn’t buy their records when they first came out but I did buy them in order. So, I was just as baffled as the original fans. That said, this album has grown on me over the years. It’s still high energy, and I’m tapping my foot as I type this, a good sign. Very catchy stuff for the most part. Roots rock/power pop/proto-punk if any of those make sense.

I’ve read that their third album was insane, more like the first, and that nobody listened. I’ve never heard it. I really need to start looking…

Read Leg McNeil’s Please Kill Me for some funny background on MC5.

Laibach — Opus Dei

• Artist: Laibach
• Title: Opus Dei
• Year: 1987
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: 1987 – Mary bought it when she worked at Plan 9 Records in Richmond, VA.
• Keeper: Yes

“Leben Heißt Leben!” And you can’t argue with that!

I had to start playing this one last night to flush that Kajagoogoo out of my head. It worked. These guys are hard to explain, and I’m not sure I even get the whole thing. But I like it. Laibach is probably the weirdest band I know of that has had any commercial success.

Eastern European/Wagnerian/Industrial/Stomp/Electronic/Orchestral/March Rock with the occassional pretty tune thrown in to keep you guessing. That’s the best I can do. It’s worth your time to click one of the search links to read more about them.

Kajagoogoo — Too Shy

• Artist: Kajagoogoo
• Title: Too Shy
• Year: 1982
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 5
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: 1982 ? – Unknown origin.
• Keeper: Yes

Just to be clear, this is Mary’s. Not that I don’t like ’80s pop. I’m just saying it’s Mary’s record. Believe it.

Don’t get too excited; this is just a 12″, not a full album. The “Midnight Mix” of “Too Shy” is a reasonably listenable pop song, but the flip side is just plain irritating. It’s not even danceable. In case you’re wondering those band members on the back cover are all “men.”

Mary says it rates “above 5”, but I’m holding the line because of that flipside.

Joe Jackson — Beat Crazy

• Artist: Joe Jackson
• Title: Beat Crazy
• Year: 1980
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: 1981 – Kempmill Records in Annandale, VA.
• Keeper: Yes

This one’s more eclectic and experimental than the first two. I don’t know if there were any radio hits on Beat Crazy, but for some reason the title track is more familiar than the rest. Maybe one of my friends had it on a mix tape or something. Also, this record was released as “The Joe Jackson Band.” I think everything else was just Joe Jackson.

The John Handy III Quintet/Quartet — In The Vernacular

• Artist: The John Handy III Quintet/Quartet
• Title: In The Vernacular
• Year: 1976
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 2005 – Inherited from Bob Bobala when he decided to book it to Cali.
• Keeper: Yes

My friend Bob Bobala gave me a nice stash of records when he moved. I think he even inherited some of these from an uncle. This double album is one of the good ones. It appears to be part of a series of jazz “best-of” records that were issued or re-released in ’70s.

It starts out sounding like some typical restaurant jazz, but as it goes on and you start to pay better attention you realize this is quality. Swinging and weird enough to keep me interested, but not too spazzed out that I can’t play it when the in-laws are visiting. Thanks Bob.

Game Theory — Lolita Nation

• Artist: Game Theory
• Title: Lolita Nation
• Year: 1987
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 4
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: 1987 – Mary bought it for herself when she was working at Plan 9 Records in Richmond, VA.
• Keeper: No

OK, I played this one out of order. I played the second one first. Mary says the first is pretty good, but agrees with me that this one needs to go. She rated it only a 2 or 3, but I’m giving it a 4. The whole time I was listening to it I was thinking “this sounds a lot like Let’s Active”, which is not really a bad thing. And surprise, surprise, surprise! It was produced by LA main man Mitch Easter.

It wasn’t really bad, but it’s a freakin’ double album! Double albums in general encourage too much self-indulgence and noodling around, being arty or whatever. Unless you’re the Beastie Boys, Isaac Hayes, Metallica, Outkast, or Led Zeppelin, (and you are not) a double album is just never a good idea. Seriously. Don’t try it. Seriously.

Fad Gadget — Collapsing New People

• Artist: Fad Gadget
• Title: Collapsing New People
• Year: 1984
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: 1984 – Olsson’s in Dupont Circle, DC.
• Keeper: Yes

This is a proper 12″ single with two mixes of Collapsing New People and one B side that is ultra-goth. One cool tidbit is that the “guest musicians” are Einstürzende Neubauten. Frank Tovey, the man behind Fad Gadget, has been all over the music map. I would describe this single as an artier, more interesting version of early Depeche Mode. I’m sure EN contributed a lot. The photo attached is the backside. It’s fun to see the crowd from 1983.

Anyhow, this song screams for a heavy metal cover version. I’m ready to get the band back together! Who’s with me?!?

The Eastern Dark — Long Live The New Flesh!

• Artist: The Eastern Dark
• Title: Long Live The New Flesh!
• Year: 1986
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1986 – Unicorn Records in Portsmouth, VA, I think.
• Keeper: Yes

This is a great garage/rock/punk/power-pop EP. The frontman James Darroch died earlier in the year it was released, 1986. I believe it was vehicular thing. Before Eastern Dark he played bass with Celibate Rifles. I’m not sure why exactly, but I have a lot of music from Australian garage rockers. Maybe I should move there.

D.A.D — No Fuel Left For The Pilgrims

• Artist: D.A.D
• Title: No Fuel Left For The Pilgrims
• Year: 1989
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 6
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1989 – Promo we received at our record store RIP Records in Norfolk, VA.
• Keeper: Maybe

The band’s name was originally “Disneyland After Dark.” That name might’ve worked at home in Denmark, but once they went bigtime they had to change it. And, no, I didn’t forget a period after the last “D”, that’s how they write it.

This is a pretty rocked-out record and the lyrics, against all odds, are not dumb. So, of course I like it. Somewhere I have a CD of theirs that I actually paid for. I may keep this, but I’m not sure I’ll play it that much. There’s a layer of production slickness that I think takes away the truly hard rockin’ going on below. These things happen.