Live Shot #62!

 

Tucson band Bat Population. Great songs in the pre-Hardcore style of Punk Rock. Hotel Congress, Tucson 7/27/22.

Live Shot #61!

 

Woodwinds player, composer, improvisor, community organizer Rent Romus, doing publicity for Outsound Summit 2017 at KFJC studio, July 2017. This weekend, the Summit returns, with ROVA Saxophone Quartet headlining, among others.

Flipper-1982 Unreleased Studio Recordings; Das Boots Tapes 2021

 

Goodness gracious, where to start with THIS one? Das Boot Tapes continues to do a fine service to fans and seekers of obscure recordings by some of the bigger names on the Punk Rock wave, and Flipper 1982 Unreleased Studio Recordings may be a crowning achievement for this very necessary label.

What you get for under ten clams from Flipper 1982 is a monster slab of sixteen tracks, all studio recorded as stated, but pretty much feeling very demo-ish, if you know what I mean. Long time listeners to Gone Fishin' will find new aspects to tunes such as First the Heart, where the tenor sax has not been added, or The Light, The Sound, The Rhythm, which lacks a lot of the overdub action here. Disaster Amnesiac found new interpretations abounding from these different mixes. When Will intones "...it's all yours!" before the erstwhile sax section, I find myself realizing that it just might not be the command to "blow baby!" that I always thought is was, but instead could be dedicated to whomever the lyrics might be about. On The Light, the absence of overdubbed percussion gives it a much more raw, grungy feel, something that most of us probably turned to Flipper for once we were able to hear their sound, so it's entirely a good thing despite the slight differences with certain tones.

It's also endearing to hear Bruce barking orders to the rest of the band, with predictably ambiguous results. Flipper's dour public image, perhaps scary to many, seems oddly sweet at this late date. Hell, at least they were being honest, right? Loose tries to get Steve and Will and Ted to stop, they just keep jamming, brevity be damned. And why not? If you could make a racket the way that Flipper did, would you want to stop the train? Disaster Amnesiac certainly would not want to!  And what a racket it is. Case in point is Ted Falconi's guitar onslaught. As far as I can hear, this tape may have the best sound capture of his aural assault, outside of the live arena. The demo quality benefits him. Fans of noisy guitar will have a lot to work with on Flipper 1982. 

Additionally, the tape has songs that are new to me: Flipper Blues, I Want To Talk, Now Is the Time, and Kali. It's funny to hear Bruce piss and moan about not having cigarette money on Blues, and I can't help but wonder if Will was talking to Gary Floyd a lot about esoteric Hinduism while hearing Kali. If you saw Flipper live during this time, you must still want to talk about it as well I'd imagine. 

Such a powerful rhythm section, such stunning tones, such a deep wall of Noise! They're all here, and all can be heard quite deliciously clearly.

As you're probably aware, Flipper continues with different members, and that's a fine thing. Still, if you've not grabbed it, Disaster Amnesiac highly recommends that you find Flipper 1982 Unreleased Studio Recordings for a deep glimpse into the band as they were hitting incredibly high aesthetic levels. It's an essential document of the Rock Music Process by one of its essential bands.

Rent Romus' Actual/Actual-Baptismal; Edgetone Records 4225, 2022

 

Richmond California-based woodwinds player, composer, bandleader, and community organizer Rent Romus has a new CD out, and the Jazz world really should stand up and pay attention. Featuring a group of Columbus Ohio cats, Baptismal has Romus adding substantial gains to his sprawling discography. Actual/Actual's blending of Rent's very distinctive alto and soprano saxophone sounds with the trumpet and vibraphone of Josh Strange, Troy Kunkler's drumming, and Gerard Cox's electric and acoustic keyboards yields one mighty pleasurable CD. Disaster Amnesiac has noted the ways in which this release's five tracks sound as if they're if not all improvised, then at the most generated from brief sketches. The quartet moves with admirable quickness, and one can tell that not one of them was slacking while the tape rolled. The music of Actual/Actual is quite Harmelodic, with each member taking leads or supporting positions depending on which of those roles is required of him in the moment. It's clear that these musicians are familiar with the canon, as I've noted emanations of Dolphy, Monk, Ra, and Coltrane on Baptismal. SF Bay Area peeps would also note a nod by Romus to the great Josh Allen at one point, too. That being said, everyone here holds their own here. In a word, Actual/Actual is fantastic. Hopefully Rent makes further stops in Columbus on his way back to Finland and Detroit, places wherein he also taps into his rich musical vision. As stated: Jazz world, take note of Rent!

Live Shot #60!

 

Los Lobos, Marin County Civic Center Fair Grounds, July 2018. Always a fun live band. During this set they played a great version of the Grateful Dead song West L.A. Fade Away. Kind of perfect.