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HR126 - Blowhole - In Asylum Wait/Big Joey & the Knobs split - C60 — 1989
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SIDE A: BLOWHOLE: IN ASYLUM WAIT

INTRO
DUAL
SINGE
IN ASYLUM WAIT 1
BALLS OUT BELLS TOGETHER
ASYLUM DUB
PINCH ROLLER
JIM
PLY
RIGHT LIFE
IN ASYLUM WAIT 2
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​SIDE B: BIG JOEY & THE KNOBS

HE & SHE & I
FREE UP WINCE
NEW PHYSICS
SWEDE IN MOTION
BALBOA CHESTER
TRANC
REVIEW by Jerry Kranitz
 
What ties the two bands on this split tape together is the presence of Colorado based Jeph Jerman in both.
 
Side A features Blowhole. On this tape the lineup consists of Jeph Jerman, Dave Montgomery, and Darren Soule. The music exists about mid-point on the noise-rock/free-jazz axis. Imagine a mishmash of early 80s New York ‘Downtown’ avant-rock, Ascension era Coltrane, Derek Bailey, sound experimentation/exploration, and punk.
 
The fun begins with pure noise-rock-jazz cacophony, replete with ripping, atonal guitar leads, bashing chords, and skronking horns. I love the balance between brain-crushing noise and creatively competent musicianship during the heavy rocking jam parts. We’re also treated to intensely edgy passages that cross noise-ambience with free-jazz drift. Adding to the fun is some good old experimental tape manipulation, especially what sounds like sandpapered looped bits combined with interstellar free-jazz chaos. Another part I love is the relatively sedate bass, drums, and tinkling keys jam which is interrupted by blasts from the chainsaw blazing guitar. There are horn solos that will pierce your eardrums, and free-wheeling percussion that sounds like a cavern performance. Wild and crazy stuff!
 
Side B belongs to Big Joey & The Knobs. On this tape the band are the trio of Jeph Jerman, George Ericson, and Dave Montgomery.
 
An over-simplified description of the music might be Blowhole without the free-jazz elements. The set kicks off with dark, droney, yet potently propulsive rock. The drums are a slowly commanding blend of martial and tribal feel. The bass plods along menacingly and the guitar sounds dissonantly angular as it strums away. Soon the band go full on rhythm akimbo, rocking and thrashing with drums flailing and guitars hacking wildly. But there are also lots of eerie atmospheric sequences that sound like a volcano building up to catastrophic eruption, culminating in what sounds like Captain Beefheart going steroidal noise-thrash-rock. I love the constantly twisting and turning mood, rhythm, and heavy rock vs. ambient shifts. A super intense blend of avant-rock, sound exploration, and bits of tape collage work.
homemade audio folk art by Hal McGee and friends 1981-now
  • HalTapes Home
  • Indianapolis 1981-88
  • Contact
  • Walls Of Genius
  • Jay T. Yamamoto
  • Girls On Fire
  • Harsh Reality Music
    • HR107 If Bwana Godfather Revue
    • HR117 England UK
    • HR118 Everlasting Happy Life
    • HR136 Expanded Metal Meshwork
    • HR160 Subatomic Nurse
    • HR165 Mitch Bridges Of Time
    • HR168 Trans-Siberian
    • HR169 Quadraphase EthnoTronik