HR058 - Crisis In American Music — Threwdigs? — C60 — 1987
Side A:
The White Feces Tour - 9/27/86 |
Side B:
Lawn Chairs Outlawed - 3/17/87 |
Instruments, sounds, tapes, etc by Mark Fink, Bill McCandless, Bo Parker
REVIEW by Jerry Kranitz
Crisis In American Music is the trio of Mark Fink, Bill McCandless, Bo Parker, who I have never heard of. Even Harsh Reality label honcho Chris Phinney knows little about them. He and Hal McGee tried to track them down a while back but no luck. Too bad because these guys make a mighty fine ruckus.
The Threwdigs? cassette consists of two live performances. Side A, titled ‘The White Feces Tour’, was recorded September 27, 1986 in Birmingham, AL at the Southern Danceworks Studio. The set starts off abruptly with the band in full assault mode like they had already been playing for a while. This is Punk-Noise Screech ‘n’ Roll in all its chaos rocking glory. If you want a crazy analogy, Shockabilly meets Borbetomagus comes to mind. But there is a twisted, brain scrambling method to these guys’ madness in that they are really rocking out and even getting into noise drenched free jazz territory. Throughout the set the band veer in a variety of anarchic directions, continually adjusting the noise-screech-feedback balance and throwing in bits of electronic squalls. Later the music transitions from the no holds barred onslaught to where the instruments and electronics sound like a spaced out, noise-rock, free-jazz jam trying to incorporate bits of classical composition. As the band develop this theme it gradually becomes noise-psychedelic. Melting…. melting… like an introspectively off-balance, caterwauling free-noise-jazz acid trip.
The B side of the tape, titled ‘Lawn Chairs Outlawed’, was recorded March 17, 1987 in Huntsville, AL at the Science & Technology Center. This starts off much more calmly though no less noisily twisted than the Side A performance. Drawn out scratching, screeching guitars and electronics rumble along in waves, though after a couple minutes they start coming out in blasts, followed by periods of silence. I like the space-noise-bells section that sounds like a pleasant tune and soundtrack effects that are badgered by insistent edgy noise. It’s actually kind of musical, and even a bit cartoonish, like some unruly child banging away at a toy piano, accompanied by boisterous growls, bleeping electronics, and an array of clatter. The mood is far more light and whimsical than the Side A blitz. Even the chaotic free-noise-jazz segments, despite the tumult, feel less aggressive, sounding at one point like Ornette Coleman and Hawkwind joining up for a punk-jazz space jam. Later there’s a segment I like that sounds like the free-noise-jazz version of a pack of wolves howling at the moon.
Overall, these two performances were good choices for the flip sides of a cassette album. The same band in two very different moods.
REVIEW by Jerry Kranitz
Crisis In American Music is the trio of Mark Fink, Bill McCandless, Bo Parker, who I have never heard of. Even Harsh Reality label honcho Chris Phinney knows little about them. He and Hal McGee tried to track them down a while back but no luck. Too bad because these guys make a mighty fine ruckus.
The Threwdigs? cassette consists of two live performances. Side A, titled ‘The White Feces Tour’, was recorded September 27, 1986 in Birmingham, AL at the Southern Danceworks Studio. The set starts off abruptly with the band in full assault mode like they had already been playing for a while. This is Punk-Noise Screech ‘n’ Roll in all its chaos rocking glory. If you want a crazy analogy, Shockabilly meets Borbetomagus comes to mind. But there is a twisted, brain scrambling method to these guys’ madness in that they are really rocking out and even getting into noise drenched free jazz territory. Throughout the set the band veer in a variety of anarchic directions, continually adjusting the noise-screech-feedback balance and throwing in bits of electronic squalls. Later the music transitions from the no holds barred onslaught to where the instruments and electronics sound like a spaced out, noise-rock, free-jazz jam trying to incorporate bits of classical composition. As the band develop this theme it gradually becomes noise-psychedelic. Melting…. melting… like an introspectively off-balance, caterwauling free-noise-jazz acid trip.
The B side of the tape, titled ‘Lawn Chairs Outlawed’, was recorded March 17, 1987 in Huntsville, AL at the Science & Technology Center. This starts off much more calmly though no less noisily twisted than the Side A performance. Drawn out scratching, screeching guitars and electronics rumble along in waves, though after a couple minutes they start coming out in blasts, followed by periods of silence. I like the space-noise-bells section that sounds like a pleasant tune and soundtrack effects that are badgered by insistent edgy noise. It’s actually kind of musical, and even a bit cartoonish, like some unruly child banging away at a toy piano, accompanied by boisterous growls, bleeping electronics, and an array of clatter. The mood is far more light and whimsical than the Side A blitz. Even the chaotic free-noise-jazz segments, despite the tumult, feel less aggressive, sounding at one point like Ornette Coleman and Hawkwind joining up for a punk-jazz space jam. Later there’s a segment I like that sounds like the free-noise-jazz version of a pack of wolves howling at the moon.
Overall, these two performances were good choices for the flip sides of a cassette album. The same band in two very different moods.