HR141 - Dog As Master - Places Without Air - C60 — 1989
|
SIDE ONE:
Enclosure I. The Bucket Enclosure II. The Closet Enclosure III. The Cage |
SIDE TWO:
Enclosures IV./V. The Box / The Cellar |
REVIEW by Jerry Kranitz
Dog As Master was the solo project of Hal McGee. The Places Without Air album enjoyed multiple releases, having started life in 1986 as a cassette album on Carl Howard's audiofile Tapes label, then reissued by Hal and Debbie Jaffe on their Cause And Effect label in 1988, followed by this cassette reissue by Harsh Reality in 1989. Hal later reissued it on CDR on his HalTapes label.
Places Without Air took me completely by surprise, being very different from the electronic/audio-art Dog As Master recordings I’ve heard. The set is dominated by spoken word routines, creating the feel of an avant-garde theater performance. The poetry/narrative deliveries vary from intense ensemble cast, whispers, shouts, crying, and often simultaneous/competing narratives.
Anyone who is familiar with Hal’s work will understand when I say that he has an instantly recognizable voice and style of speaking. It then shocked me when Hal confirmed that what I thought were multiple different voices on this tape were in fact all him, without any tape speed or pitch manipulations.
While focusing on the speaking I noticed the ‘Enclosure’ that prefixes the four track titles. Hal explains:
“Regarding the theme of ‘Enclosures’ on Places Without Air, all of those audio enclosures are about psychological, mental, psychic claustrophobia. In my early to mid 20s I was treated for schizophrenia, and the medications I was given (Lithium, Stelazine, and Ativan) were utilized to cut out all of my mood swings between ecstatic highs and depressive lows. The problem is that they made me feel like my consciousness was in a box or cage, a highly constrained psychological space. After a while I got really tired of that and decided that I would be better off without those prescription medications. So I, in a sense, cured myself of my schizophrenia by channeling that energy into art and music. And I've continued with that strategy up to the present day.”
Hal’s description reminded me of the Dog As Master live performance in Memphis, Tennessee on October 30, 1987, which includes Hal performing a live version of ‘The Cage’, complete with actual cage. A digitized version of the performance from VHS is available on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/M4GCgNL8gc8?si=GUnfrVK4aZ_m1vy3
The audio was released on the Dog As Master Live In Memphis album:
https://halmcgee.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-memphis
Hal adds: “It is worth noting that to put myself in the proper frame of mind I actually recorded the original track on Places Without Air from within a dog cage, probably the same one I used at Memphis.”
From a Harsh Reality perspective, I’ll add that label honcho Chris Phinney organized the Memphis show, which was held at The Antenna club. Chris’ band Viktimized Karcass also performed, as did the late Mike Honeycutt performing as Mystery Hearsay. Hal and Al Margolis were on their Sacrifice of Reason tour as Bwana Dog at the time and Bwana Dog closed the show.
Additional links:
Another version of ‘The Cage’ can be heard on the Dog As Master The Splendor/Live In Pittsburgh album:
https://halmcgee.bandcamp.com/album/the-splendor-live-in-pittsburgh
Track 5, ‘Untitled (Memphis)’, from the Dog As Master/If, Bwana Painting album is a recording of the October 30 Bwana Dog performance in Memphis:
https://halmcgee.bandcamp.com/album/painting
Even more information about the October 30 show in Memphis (and related background information) can be found on the HR050 Bwana Dog Joint Venture cassette album page:
http://www.haltapes.com/hr050-joint-venture.html
Here is the cover to the original 1986 audiofile Tapes release of Places Without Air (aT 13):
Dog As Master was the solo project of Hal McGee. The Places Without Air album enjoyed multiple releases, having started life in 1986 as a cassette album on Carl Howard's audiofile Tapes label, then reissued by Hal and Debbie Jaffe on their Cause And Effect label in 1988, followed by this cassette reissue by Harsh Reality in 1989. Hal later reissued it on CDR on his HalTapes label.
Places Without Air took me completely by surprise, being very different from the electronic/audio-art Dog As Master recordings I’ve heard. The set is dominated by spoken word routines, creating the feel of an avant-garde theater performance. The poetry/narrative deliveries vary from intense ensemble cast, whispers, shouts, crying, and often simultaneous/competing narratives.
Anyone who is familiar with Hal’s work will understand when I say that he has an instantly recognizable voice and style of speaking. It then shocked me when Hal confirmed that what I thought were multiple different voices on this tape were in fact all him, without any tape speed or pitch manipulations.
While focusing on the speaking I noticed the ‘Enclosure’ that prefixes the four track titles. Hal explains:
“Regarding the theme of ‘Enclosures’ on Places Without Air, all of those audio enclosures are about psychological, mental, psychic claustrophobia. In my early to mid 20s I was treated for schizophrenia, and the medications I was given (Lithium, Stelazine, and Ativan) were utilized to cut out all of my mood swings between ecstatic highs and depressive lows. The problem is that they made me feel like my consciousness was in a box or cage, a highly constrained psychological space. After a while I got really tired of that and decided that I would be better off without those prescription medications. So I, in a sense, cured myself of my schizophrenia by channeling that energy into art and music. And I've continued with that strategy up to the present day.”
Hal’s description reminded me of the Dog As Master live performance in Memphis, Tennessee on October 30, 1987, which includes Hal performing a live version of ‘The Cage’, complete with actual cage. A digitized version of the performance from VHS is available on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/M4GCgNL8gc8?si=GUnfrVK4aZ_m1vy3
The audio was released on the Dog As Master Live In Memphis album:
https://halmcgee.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-memphis
Hal adds: “It is worth noting that to put myself in the proper frame of mind I actually recorded the original track on Places Without Air from within a dog cage, probably the same one I used at Memphis.”
From a Harsh Reality perspective, I’ll add that label honcho Chris Phinney organized the Memphis show, which was held at The Antenna club. Chris’ band Viktimized Karcass also performed, as did the late Mike Honeycutt performing as Mystery Hearsay. Hal and Al Margolis were on their Sacrifice of Reason tour as Bwana Dog at the time and Bwana Dog closed the show.
Additional links:
Another version of ‘The Cage’ can be heard on the Dog As Master The Splendor/Live In Pittsburgh album:
https://halmcgee.bandcamp.com/album/the-splendor-live-in-pittsburgh
Track 5, ‘Untitled (Memphis)’, from the Dog As Master/If, Bwana Painting album is a recording of the October 30 Bwana Dog performance in Memphis:
https://halmcgee.bandcamp.com/album/painting
Even more information about the October 30 show in Memphis (and related background information) can be found on the HR050 Bwana Dog Joint Venture cassette album page:
http://www.haltapes.com/hr050-joint-venture.html
Here is the cover to the original 1986 audiofile Tapes release of Places Without Air (aT 13):
