HR099 - Cephalic Index - Tilt - C60 — 1989
Side A:
Xylene Corridor Of Locusts |
Side B:
Sunset Sickness Dance Tim's Ride Tilt Neutral Spirits |
REVIEW by Jerry Kranitz
Cephalic Index was a solo project from Mike Jackson, also known for the Cancerous Growth duo with Chris Phinney, sometimes member of Viktimized Karcass, and much else.
Opening Side A of this C60 is the 14-minute ‘Xylene’, which combines mind-bending UFO pulsations and radio static with additional bits quickly added on in the first minutes to create a hodgepodge of space/noise/effects fun: eerily moaning synth notes, droning gurgles, drugged rolling motors, alien voices, and spirited synth play. I like the free-wheeling mish-mosh of sounds that chaotically yet insistently march on. This army may consist of an assortment of animal, vegetable, and electronic species but they all play together nicely in the celestial sandbox. As the track progresses it gets more intensely yet playfully frantic and spaced out.
‘Corridor Of Locusts’ is next and begins with an off-kilter percussive tone melody dueling with a hyperactive electronic swarm. Once again additional components join in, with a hornets’ nest of alien and squeaky toy insects seemingly toying with the drugged and stumbling tone melody, and herky-jerky space electronic jamming. A fun blend of playful melodic experimentation and threatening vibes.
Side B begins with the aptly titled ‘Sunset Sickness Dance’, a freakily frantic dance party in electronic space, but with a bubbling aquatic underbelly. It's weird and fun, sounding like a drugged electronic trombone bandleading a freakazoid ensemble. I struggled to type these notes because my hips and shoulders couldn’t stop grooving. About halfway through the lead melody really starts messing with the listener as it pulls back and gets emotionally thematic and a thunderstorm builds up around it, only to stop dead before launching into a delirious glom of swirls and spaced out marching band acid trip melodies.
‘Tim's Ride’ consists of jamming synth melody, electro gurgle-farts, and hysterical swarms make for a get-down-with-your-bad-alien-self avant free-jazz jam. This segues into the toy store in space sound noodling and dancing, wah-wah’d tone fun of the title track, which includes a sci-fi soundtrack ballet of whining and droning synths, ending with a slow drone finale.
‘Neutral Spirits’ picks up the jamming pace again, sounding like another cosmic experimental free-jazz jam, given a psychedelic edge by rhythmic backwards effects. This is one of the most subtly cool grooving tracks on the tape… though still totally freaky… and, do I hear ghostly singing in the last moments of the tune?
INTERVIEW with Mike Jackson by Jerry Kranitz
Jerry Kranitz (JK): Chris mentioned something about this tape first being released on Doug Walker’s (short-lived) Galactus label?
Mike Jackson (MJ): Well I’m not sure it was ever released by Doug, but he gave me the catalog number 'SPACE #013'. I still have the original mix/master and cover art which are different from the version Chris released.
Doug was a brilliant human being who had a significant impact on both my art and how I moved about in life, but my man really had no business trying to run a label! He was extremely busy as it was and, unbeknownst to him at the time, he and Fran were about to be parents and move to Queens. The respect I had (and still have) for this man left me humbled at the invitation to be a part of any endeavor, especially a release of my own music. Since I’ve mentioned Fran, I should emphasize the hospitality and generosity that was extended to this teenager both at their 3rd floor walkup in Brooklyn and the house in St. Albans. Strong coffee and a joint for breakfast while Doug took insulin over the morning news is something I’ll never forget.
JK: What synths/gear did you use on this set?
MJ: ARP Odyssey, Digitech Time Machine, Fostex X-15 initially. Doug insisted that I not use samples or tape noise because he was convinced that I could make a record purely using the Odyssey after hearing my release 'Syndrome/Sin Drone'. The original 'Tilt' recordings were made in the first two months of having set up shop in Boston and was dedicated to an odd group of folks I had spent my last couple of months in Memphis hanging about. Once it became apparent that Doug wasn’t going to do anything with it, Chris offered to release it and I remastered it with the addition of my recently acquired Lexicon LXP-1 a year later. The backwards rhythm track was produced by a Casio keyboard.
JK: What produced that cool sounding tone melody on ‘Corridor Of Locusts’? And the swarming effects?
MJ: ARP Odyssey baby!
JK: I hadn’t noticed the word ‘Dance’ in the ‘Sunset Sickness Dance’ title when I started typing my impressions. If you were going for a dance feel you succeeded in an awesomely cool and strange way.
MJ: Thanks! Pretty sure I titled it afterwards though. Even without a sequencer, the Odyssey was capable of myriad rhythmic manifestations.
JK: Overall, I love how ‘busy’ but cohesive the tracks in this set are. LOTS happening with both sounds and moods. It’s electronic/experimental, but at times nicely drugged/psychedelic too.
MJ: Maybe too busy? I wasn’t proficient enough with an analog synth in a solo live setting to do anything as good as Doug, Chris, or David Prescott, so I multi-tracked the whole thing, but tried to keep an organic feel throughout. What are these drugs you keep referencing?
JK: Following from the last question, I wonder if you approached these tapes with any preconceived ideas/goals/themes in mind?
MJ: Believe it or not YES. Meticulously conceived foundations were put in place for improvisatory noodling to put it simply. The following month I used some of the base tracks to perform live over in Brooklyn using Doug’s Odyssey. Nothing went as planned to say the least!
JK: We’ll wrap up with a fun question: I’m staring too hard at the cover. The top looks like a tacky chandelier. On the left looks like a garage sale lamp. On the right looks like a pinned plug in to a piece of your gear.
MJ: Not sure, but all the above could be feasible! I was doing a lot of multiple exposure film photography at the time as well.
Cephalic Index was a solo project from Mike Jackson, also known for the Cancerous Growth duo with Chris Phinney, sometimes member of Viktimized Karcass, and much else.
Opening Side A of this C60 is the 14-minute ‘Xylene’, which combines mind-bending UFO pulsations and radio static with additional bits quickly added on in the first minutes to create a hodgepodge of space/noise/effects fun: eerily moaning synth notes, droning gurgles, drugged rolling motors, alien voices, and spirited synth play. I like the free-wheeling mish-mosh of sounds that chaotically yet insistently march on. This army may consist of an assortment of animal, vegetable, and electronic species but they all play together nicely in the celestial sandbox. As the track progresses it gets more intensely yet playfully frantic and spaced out.
‘Corridor Of Locusts’ is next and begins with an off-kilter percussive tone melody dueling with a hyperactive electronic swarm. Once again additional components join in, with a hornets’ nest of alien and squeaky toy insects seemingly toying with the drugged and stumbling tone melody, and herky-jerky space electronic jamming. A fun blend of playful melodic experimentation and threatening vibes.
Side B begins with the aptly titled ‘Sunset Sickness Dance’, a freakily frantic dance party in electronic space, but with a bubbling aquatic underbelly. It's weird and fun, sounding like a drugged electronic trombone bandleading a freakazoid ensemble. I struggled to type these notes because my hips and shoulders couldn’t stop grooving. About halfway through the lead melody really starts messing with the listener as it pulls back and gets emotionally thematic and a thunderstorm builds up around it, only to stop dead before launching into a delirious glom of swirls and spaced out marching band acid trip melodies.
‘Tim's Ride’ consists of jamming synth melody, electro gurgle-farts, and hysterical swarms make for a get-down-with-your-bad-alien-self avant free-jazz jam. This segues into the toy store in space sound noodling and dancing, wah-wah’d tone fun of the title track, which includes a sci-fi soundtrack ballet of whining and droning synths, ending with a slow drone finale.
‘Neutral Spirits’ picks up the jamming pace again, sounding like another cosmic experimental free-jazz jam, given a psychedelic edge by rhythmic backwards effects. This is one of the most subtly cool grooving tracks on the tape… though still totally freaky… and, do I hear ghostly singing in the last moments of the tune?
INTERVIEW with Mike Jackson by Jerry Kranitz
Jerry Kranitz (JK): Chris mentioned something about this tape first being released on Doug Walker’s (short-lived) Galactus label?
Mike Jackson (MJ): Well I’m not sure it was ever released by Doug, but he gave me the catalog number 'SPACE #013'. I still have the original mix/master and cover art which are different from the version Chris released.
Doug was a brilliant human being who had a significant impact on both my art and how I moved about in life, but my man really had no business trying to run a label! He was extremely busy as it was and, unbeknownst to him at the time, he and Fran were about to be parents and move to Queens. The respect I had (and still have) for this man left me humbled at the invitation to be a part of any endeavor, especially a release of my own music. Since I’ve mentioned Fran, I should emphasize the hospitality and generosity that was extended to this teenager both at their 3rd floor walkup in Brooklyn and the house in St. Albans. Strong coffee and a joint for breakfast while Doug took insulin over the morning news is something I’ll never forget.
JK: What synths/gear did you use on this set?
MJ: ARP Odyssey, Digitech Time Machine, Fostex X-15 initially. Doug insisted that I not use samples or tape noise because he was convinced that I could make a record purely using the Odyssey after hearing my release 'Syndrome/Sin Drone'. The original 'Tilt' recordings were made in the first two months of having set up shop in Boston and was dedicated to an odd group of folks I had spent my last couple of months in Memphis hanging about. Once it became apparent that Doug wasn’t going to do anything with it, Chris offered to release it and I remastered it with the addition of my recently acquired Lexicon LXP-1 a year later. The backwards rhythm track was produced by a Casio keyboard.
JK: What produced that cool sounding tone melody on ‘Corridor Of Locusts’? And the swarming effects?
MJ: ARP Odyssey baby!
JK: I hadn’t noticed the word ‘Dance’ in the ‘Sunset Sickness Dance’ title when I started typing my impressions. If you were going for a dance feel you succeeded in an awesomely cool and strange way.
MJ: Thanks! Pretty sure I titled it afterwards though. Even without a sequencer, the Odyssey was capable of myriad rhythmic manifestations.
JK: Overall, I love how ‘busy’ but cohesive the tracks in this set are. LOTS happening with both sounds and moods. It’s electronic/experimental, but at times nicely drugged/psychedelic too.
MJ: Maybe too busy? I wasn’t proficient enough with an analog synth in a solo live setting to do anything as good as Doug, Chris, or David Prescott, so I multi-tracked the whole thing, but tried to keep an organic feel throughout. What are these drugs you keep referencing?
JK: Following from the last question, I wonder if you approached these tapes with any preconceived ideas/goals/themes in mind?
MJ: Believe it or not YES. Meticulously conceived foundations were put in place for improvisatory noodling to put it simply. The following month I used some of the base tracks to perform live over in Brooklyn using Doug’s Odyssey. Nothing went as planned to say the least!
JK: We’ll wrap up with a fun question: I’m staring too hard at the cover. The top looks like a tacky chandelier. On the left looks like a garage sale lamp. On the right looks like a pinned plug in to a piece of your gear.
MJ: Not sure, but all the above could be feasible! I was doing a lot of multiple exposure film photography at the time as well.