HR113 - Viktimized Karcass - Cruelty - C60 — 1989
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Side A:
MONKEY BRAIN FEED HOOK UP BLUES Side B: RESEARCH FOR PROFIT & AMUSEMENT |
REVIEW by Jerry Kranitz
This is a very different Viktimized Karcass. A trio version of the band – Roger Moneymaker, Richard Martin, Chris Phinney – use guitar, synths, and effects to create pure sonic space exploration.
Side A consists of the nearly 23 minute ‘Monkey Brain Feed Hook Up Blues’. 50s sci-fi soundtrack, 70s video game, Hawkwind Space Ritual, and free-wheeling effects generation all splat together for oodles of alien fun. In some ways it reminds me of the earliest Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze, but loaded up with effects chaos, not unlike some of the early duo Alien Planetscapes recordings. There are also Halloween-in-space moments with anguished ghostly wails. The guitar fits right in with the synths for effects creation, with its crashing chords and shimmering caustic noodling around the fretboard. Other parts sound like whistling wind amidst a cosmic storm.
‘Research For Profit & Amusement’ starts off much more sedate, with what could be water drips or bird hoots, and light tones. Soon the guitar starts to shake things up with gnarly fretboard demolition, though the general feel is of being in an alien forest bristling with life. The guitar at times has an experimental Derek Bailey feel, though in a purely space exploratory context. Scraping notes and light glissando parallel chattering, bleeping, farting, and pennywhistle electronics. Eventually things get as crazily chaotic as the A side, like a full-blown acid psychedelic space assault, though the feel is often more carnivalesque than ominously intense. Sounds like the guys were having lots of fun!
INTERVIEW with Chris Phinney by Jerry Kranitz
Jerry Kranitz (JK): I was pleasantly surprised at how different this was, being pure space exploration. I had gotten it into my head that it would be a big noise-fest.
Chris Phinney (CP): What happened was we were set to jam but Robert called and said he couldn’t make it because he had to work. So Richard asked if I had the drum machine programmed. Which I did, so I said we don’t have a bass player so we ought to do something different. Let’s just make some racket. We need to do a racket tape just to throw people off. (Laughs)
JK: Nothing planned. It just came out of the spur of the moment missing of a key member.
CP: We were missing one. I didn’t feel like doing the drum thing and I didn’t want to do it without the bassist. So we decided to do it this way with two long pieces of racket.
JK: Was there any discussion about what you were going to do, or did it end up sounding like it did simply because of the dual electronics and guitar?
CP: It was just a freeform improvisational jam. We knew we were gonna be fuckin’ around. Me and Richard played keys and synths and Roger played guitar.
JK: I thought it turned out good. It’s got a chaotic yet soundtrack kind of feel at times.
CP: Yeah, it doesn’t go crazy like some of these noise-heads do. It has a cohesiveness of sorts.
JK: There’s great variety. In the review I describe how it goes from 50s sci-fi soundtrack, to video game, Hawkwind Space Ritual, and even early minimal Tangerine Dream. And it just keeps evolving. Roger’s guitar fits right in with the synths for effects generation.
CP: Oh yeah, we had been improvising together so long Roger knew what we meant when we said, “Just make some noise!”
JK: Was this one track that you split across two sides?
CP: No, the machine only recorded 23 minutes at a time. That was the limitation of my 4-track.
JK: I see, so it was two tracks simply because you had to stop.
CP: Exactly.
JK: It’s interesting because the second track starts off more sedate and works its way back up. So maybe you had to stop and think as you kicked things off again.
CP: We probably stopped to drink a beer or two.
JK: Was it only as you listened back to the recordings that you decided to release it?
CP: No, we knew we were going to make it a release anyway.
JK: Ok, so the original plan with Robert was to record something to release and when he couldn’t make it that part of the plan didn’t change. Were you surprised with how it turned out and maybe glad circumstances worked out the way they did?
CP: Oh yeah. We always liked everything we did. Because when we jammed it was fun.
JK: For me, methodically working through the catalog as we are, this just adds to the variety as I hear the band progress over time.
CP: The bad thing is some of the best music went out to other labels. Almost all the labels disappeared after a while. I later reclaimed them all and reissued them much later in the Harsh Reality catalog.
JK: Yes, I see on the Harsh Reality discography page it states that starting with HR256 these are releases that had originally been released on other labels.
CP: Because these labels disappeared I wanted to take back control, reissue them on Harsh Reality, and ensure that they were available.
This is a very different Viktimized Karcass. A trio version of the band – Roger Moneymaker, Richard Martin, Chris Phinney – use guitar, synths, and effects to create pure sonic space exploration.
Side A consists of the nearly 23 minute ‘Monkey Brain Feed Hook Up Blues’. 50s sci-fi soundtrack, 70s video game, Hawkwind Space Ritual, and free-wheeling effects generation all splat together for oodles of alien fun. In some ways it reminds me of the earliest Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze, but loaded up with effects chaos, not unlike some of the early duo Alien Planetscapes recordings. There are also Halloween-in-space moments with anguished ghostly wails. The guitar fits right in with the synths for effects creation, with its crashing chords and shimmering caustic noodling around the fretboard. Other parts sound like whistling wind amidst a cosmic storm.
‘Research For Profit & Amusement’ starts off much more sedate, with what could be water drips or bird hoots, and light tones. Soon the guitar starts to shake things up with gnarly fretboard demolition, though the general feel is of being in an alien forest bristling with life. The guitar at times has an experimental Derek Bailey feel, though in a purely space exploratory context. Scraping notes and light glissando parallel chattering, bleeping, farting, and pennywhistle electronics. Eventually things get as crazily chaotic as the A side, like a full-blown acid psychedelic space assault, though the feel is often more carnivalesque than ominously intense. Sounds like the guys were having lots of fun!
INTERVIEW with Chris Phinney by Jerry Kranitz
Jerry Kranitz (JK): I was pleasantly surprised at how different this was, being pure space exploration. I had gotten it into my head that it would be a big noise-fest.
Chris Phinney (CP): What happened was we were set to jam but Robert called and said he couldn’t make it because he had to work. So Richard asked if I had the drum machine programmed. Which I did, so I said we don’t have a bass player so we ought to do something different. Let’s just make some racket. We need to do a racket tape just to throw people off. (Laughs)
JK: Nothing planned. It just came out of the spur of the moment missing of a key member.
CP: We were missing one. I didn’t feel like doing the drum thing and I didn’t want to do it without the bassist. So we decided to do it this way with two long pieces of racket.
JK: Was there any discussion about what you were going to do, or did it end up sounding like it did simply because of the dual electronics and guitar?
CP: It was just a freeform improvisational jam. We knew we were gonna be fuckin’ around. Me and Richard played keys and synths and Roger played guitar.
JK: I thought it turned out good. It’s got a chaotic yet soundtrack kind of feel at times.
CP: Yeah, it doesn’t go crazy like some of these noise-heads do. It has a cohesiveness of sorts.
JK: There’s great variety. In the review I describe how it goes from 50s sci-fi soundtrack, to video game, Hawkwind Space Ritual, and even early minimal Tangerine Dream. And it just keeps evolving. Roger’s guitar fits right in with the synths for effects generation.
CP: Oh yeah, we had been improvising together so long Roger knew what we meant when we said, “Just make some noise!”
JK: Was this one track that you split across two sides?
CP: No, the machine only recorded 23 minutes at a time. That was the limitation of my 4-track.
JK: I see, so it was two tracks simply because you had to stop.
CP: Exactly.
JK: It’s interesting because the second track starts off more sedate and works its way back up. So maybe you had to stop and think as you kicked things off again.
CP: We probably stopped to drink a beer or two.
JK: Was it only as you listened back to the recordings that you decided to release it?
CP: No, we knew we were going to make it a release anyway.
JK: Ok, so the original plan with Robert was to record something to release and when he couldn’t make it that part of the plan didn’t change. Were you surprised with how it turned out and maybe glad circumstances worked out the way they did?
CP: Oh yeah. We always liked everything we did. Because when we jammed it was fun.
JK: For me, methodically working through the catalog as we are, this just adds to the variety as I hear the band progress over time.
CP: The bad thing is some of the best music went out to other labels. Almost all the labels disappeared after a while. I later reclaimed them all and reissued them much later in the Harsh Reality catalog.
JK: Yes, I see on the Harsh Reality discography page it states that starting with HR256 these are releases that had originally been released on other labels.
CP: Because these labels disappeared I wanted to take back control, reissue them on Harsh Reality, and ensure that they were available.