LISTEN UP: NEW RELEASES OF VARYING DEGREES OF BRILLIANCE (2.26.2022)

 HOT LUNCH - HOT LUNCH




Heavy Psych Sounds give new life to this Hot Lunch eponymous debut originally released in 2013.  Kicking off in prime, amped up MC5 style with "Handy Denny," it's clear that Hot Lunch are out to grab you by the throat and keep the pressure on until you pass out.  Or shuffle off your mortal coil.  Within the first two songs the band have ripped their way through more riffs that the first two Black Sabbath albums put together.  And there is no let up from there on in. "Ripped At The Seams" opts for a tight but loose Blue Cheer style grind with Eric Shea's manic vocal delivery evoking John Garner at his most deranged in the early days of Sir Lord Baltimore.  Other bands that Hot Lunch tip their hats to through the course of these nine tracks to varying degrees include the spastic blues of The Groundhogs, the theatrical intensity of The Alice Cooper Band, the raw, soulful blast of Grand Funk Railroad, the explosive crunch of The Who, to the trippy psychedelia of The Doors.   It isn't all noise though.  The epic "Lady Of The Lake" displays a level of tenderness with a light folky vibe not too dissimilar to Sir Lord Baltimore's "Lake Isle Of Innisfree."   "You wanna rock? You wanna boogie? You wanna think about it every once in a while?  Then put Hot Lunch in your stereo and let the fog roll in over your mind."  So sayeth The AllMusic Guide, and we have to emphatically agree.  We think.  But we forget a lot . . .


HOCINE CHAOUI - OUECHESMA



Hocine Chaoui is one of Algeria most famous and respected musicians and poets.  On this release he modernized his sound with drum machines while incorporating intense and modern production techniques with phased gesba flute and reverbed vocals taking the genre to its logical new phase. This CD is a reissue of one of the most "in demand" of the cassettes originally released by Oriental Music Production, a cassette label dedicated to the some of the best regional releases during the heyday of the '80s and '90s, golden era of Algerian music.  These releases were only released on cassette and now command a premium on the collector's market. Chaoui is a genre of Berber music that originated in the Aurès region of Algeria. It is a mixture of Saharan and Atlas Mountain music marked with dancing rhythms and is part of the oral living tradition of the Aurès region. The first recordings on magnetic tape date back to the 1930s when Aissa Jermouni's music was introduced and published internationally. Over the years, Chaoui has given birth to various sub-genres.  The genre was popularized in the 1930s and 1940s, and still generates a strong following of fans across the country and especially in the Aurès region in the 2000s.  In its most frequent instrumental configuration, a chaoui music group includes a zorna, a gasba flute, a bendir and one or more singers.  Originally, Chaoui musicians were shepherds who lived in the Aurès mountains who composed and sang their poetry centered on personal and regional topics.  These compositions also included joyful works for local and religious festivals and Chaoui weddings.


THE LUM & ABNER OF MOROCCO - THE LUM & ABNER OF MOROCCO





Daniel Conrad (born 1946) is an American light-artist, painter, sound artist, teacher and writer from Baltimore County, Maryland.  He is the brother of Tony Conrad and experimental musician and artist who played with John Cale in The Theatre of Eternal Music and with Cale and Lou Reed in The Primitives.   This release consists of two fourteen-minute-plus compositions of improvised experimental music on self constructed instruments:   a vibrating metal device (Wild Wave) and musical stringed instrument having only one string and a stick shaped body (Veena Bambeena).   A bowed cymbal accompanies the side one piece.  


ALIEN SEX FIEND THE MANIC NIGHTMARE OF ALIEN SEX FIEND: THE SINGLES 1983-1985 




Channeling goth, "positive punk," and industrial, Alien Sex Fiend are experimental pioneers whose output defies easy categorization.  Formed at London's goth epicenter, the Batcave, in 1982, the Fiends' early use of loops, synth sheens, and a dub sensibility yielded a deal with Anagram and rapid chart success.  This dynamite vinyl compilation on Radiation Records draws from six early singles, including the electrode mix of popular debut "Ignore the Machine," freaky dirge "Lips Can't Go," minimalist stomper "Dead And Buried," the rocking excess of "R.I.P.," intergalactic "E.S.T." and the mutant disco of "I'm Doing Time."  A killer set tracking their early evolution, this is absolutely essential listening for all ASF fans.


HENRY COW - LEG END




ReR Vinyl present a reissue of Henry Cow's Leg End, originally released in 1979.  This was the first time together on record for Fred Frith, Tim Hodgkinson, Chris Cutler, John Greaves, and Geoff Leigh.  An extension and fusion of the key influences of Soft Machine and Frank Zappa, the album is packed full of extraordinary tunes, complex but never pompous arrangements, and great improvisations.  It defines a whole new world of European music.  Indispensable really.


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