Among aficionados and collectors, ‘Fingerprince’ and its associate EP, ‘Baby Fingers’, are considered a pivotal moment in The Residents’ career. No longer feeling the need to even pretend to ingratiate themselves to radio pluggers or sell millions of records, they pitched to their label their next opus – a three-sided record to be titled ‘Tourniquet […]
When The Mothers of Invention released ‘Freak Out!’ in 1966, although it was groundbreaking in its vision and appropriately ignored by the record-buying public, it was very much an album that fitted its environment and reflected the gnarled and disgusting elements that the 1960s did a terrific job of airbrushing. In contrast, The Residents’ debut, 1974’s Meet […]
One-time sideman of musical nuisance Trevor Horn’s The Buggles, Hans Zimmer is now a byword for Hollywood movie scores and is credited with revolutionising the art form, a feat achieved by using modern technology and synthesizers alongside more traditional instrumentation and arrangements. I can scarcely think of anything less necessary. There used to be two […]
If the temporary abandonment of the moniker Tad is a stripping bare of sorts, the latest release by the great survivor of the early 90s alternative music scene is positively hardcore in its gynaecological musical content. It would be easy to flap our arms and proclaim this as a massive deviation from the norm, an approach […]
Not trying too hard is the unsung rule of music disregarded by many, if not most, bands. Extra band members; lyrical references to obscure things so as to impress people; ‘an agenda’…anything along these lines takes you ever further away from the music – of course, sometimes, this can be a blessing. Dyr Faser understand […]
What a joy this is – a concept album based on an episode of The Twilight Zone, constructed entirely by one guy using loops, samples and eerie bloops. The chap in question is Dominic Francisco, a prolific producer of eulogies to places and times past, with the kind of skill and reverence seen in collectives like […]
Mark Wirtz – ‘Dream, Dream, Dream’ The Anthology Mark Wirtz – the less cool Kim Fowley, has been afforded an almost mystical and mythical status over the years. A shadow with an aura that floated around blessing countless acts with pop holy water and then disappearing to do more good deeds elsewhere. But is the […]
Dyr Faser now have 10 album releases under their belt, not to mention EPs and show no signs of sticking to any real formula – other than drowning your ears in satisfying gloop. ‘Falling Stereos’ is a pretty good description of this collection of ten tracks. The padding drum machine adds a strangely unsettling transience […]
The Residents Present: Buy or Die! Ralph Records 1972-1982 This could be one of the most surprising retrospectives released this year. Not that it exists – maybe a few years ago, the notion of collecting some of the label’s releases would’ve been considered too niche, but Cherry Red’s ultra-deep Residents digging has put paid to […]
Like most bands, The Electric Mayhem has experienced more than a few ups and downs nearly 50 years since its inception. That they are all still alive to tell the tale says much. But what skeletons lurk in the closet one of the tightest bands in showbiz? Dr. Gerald Teeth Jr, D.D.S. Coming from an […]
