Live shot #105!

 

Mostly the bassist for Tucson-based the Framps, here playing guitar on a song written after being inspired by William Blake! Groundworks, Tucson 1/26/24. The Framps have a scene of fans that love their music. Nice to get out and see a slice of youthful music production here.

Bad Brains-I Against I; SST Records, 1986

 

For the past few weeks Disaster Amnesiac has been doing a deep dive/obsessive listen to Bad Brains late 1986 I Against I, and has desired intensely to write about it. That being said, the question has arisen, over and over again: just exactly how can such an incredible album be given justice with mere words? I've been spinning it with a fervor much like the one myself and others that I knew did upon its initial release way back in the Reagan Era, resonating with its righteous intensities and pondering any and all manner of its messages, both musical and lyrical. Spinning it on the player during the day, spinning it within my perceptions at night, over and over again and again for days now. This third prong of a masterful trifecta (ROIR tape to Rock For Light to I Against I), it stands, obelisk-like, and seems to defy attempts at any kind of adequate description. As its sounds whirl within the ears and the brain, another question emerges: how in the hell did Bad Brains produce this singular and absolutely unique set of tunes? We all know the back story of how a group of D.C. kids began their musical career by obsessive study and practice of Jazz Rock Fusion, followed by a pairing down of their approach necessitated by an awareness of Punk Rock and its vital primitive shock to established thinking. Additionally, we all know how volatile a group Bad Brains were. By the time of I Against I's release, this groundbreaking Hardcore band had already disbanded under clouds of indignation and God knows what else at least once, had already become legendary, exalted by many and disdained by many others. HR's vocals on Sacred Love were recorded via the phone bank at Lorton Federal Prison, and let's just say that he was not on the visiting side within that awful place when he did so. Can you imagine the kind of stress that he and his brother Earl, along with Daryl Jennifer and Dr. Know must have been feeling during I Against I's production, with factors such as Federal imprisonment adding to their burden? It's no damn wonder that this album's more Hardcore tracks such as I Against I and House of Suffering burn with such palpable fury. Across all of the years, that fury still burns intense and brightly in ways that leave most of the more generic sounds which Bad Brains inspired in the dust. The music which came into being as a direct result of Bad Brains inspiration often sounds dated and one dimensional; this is not the case on tracks such as these. Yes, Bad Brains were Hardcore, but they were also something completely different from Hardcore. Find the proof of that on Secret 77 and Hired Gun. One can hear the Go Go of the District and the Funk of Minneapolis, but these elements are just that, elements within a unique, self-created voice of a singular band. She's Calling You could have and should have been a massive hit in 1987. I was listening to Pop music at that time, and the song fits in nicely with the actual hits of that era. From Dr. Know's guitar phrases to Earl Hudson's tight, minimal beats and HR's vocal delivery, all of the elements are present. And I ask again: how did they come up with this? Here in 2024, a track such as Return To Heaven is probably more needed for its desperate, Biblical subject matter. Re-Ignition? Its style has not even been explored by others yet, and, let's be real, others probably just can't cop that, try as they may. That question arises once more. Who were these men, and how in the heck did they cook this stuff up? I Against I, please let me go for a while! There are others records that I want to play! 

End Note: for years now, Disaster Amnesiac has wanted to see HR put together a cosmic, Sun Ra Arkestra type of project. It's high time that he, along with the other Bad Brains, go completely Free Jazz. Could you imagine how unhinged that would be? C'mon guys, give it a shot!

Live shot #104!

 

Cultural Detox Syndicate, shot with mirror; Golden Saguaro, Tucson 1/17/24. Jux def.

Goodbye 20th Century Peoples' Park Edition

 

For the past few days, Disaster Amnesiac has been watching the events that continue to unfold at and around Peoples' Park in downtown Berkeley. It appears as though Cal has finally jumped through the final legal hoop and will indeed be able to develop the block upon which the storied park sits. Their spokesmen stress the university's "urgent need for housing", along with the more apparent and long standing issue of various crimes that occur there. Demonstrations against the development plan have occurred, arrests of a few protestors have been made, but their numbers appear to be quite limited. An action that would have drawn angry masses out into the streets of Berkeley in years past is quite obviously a non-event in 2024, and this is fascinating and very telling to me. Perusing the the vox populi within YouTube comments, Disaster Amnesiac has found that people for the most part support Cal and its claim that it owns the property and needs to use it. Additionally, there is evident frustration with the people who congregate within Peoples' Park for days and days that eventually melt into years and probably even decades. I can't find a lot of sympatico on display for the Movement types of people for whom the park was at one time a major flashpoint for their causes. It's evaporated. Citizens in Berkeley are more inclined to mention the crimes that they've seen or that they fear they will see in and around that block of their town; when they do mention the legacy of the Free Speech Movement, they acknowledge it but neither do they shy away from the fact that the physical space is not the same as the ideas that were once exchanged therein. I guess that someone should venture on over to the campus proper and find some expert on Post Structuralism for further explorations of that particular dynamic. Disaster Amnesiac has also had much pause to think about people such as Milo Yiannopoulos, Ann Coulter, and Andy Ngo, who were all censored and even physically attacked on the Cal Berkeley campus for simply trying to communicate their ideas. Even if one finds these ideas odious, as many in Berkeley obviously do, their freedom of speech was cancelled ignominiously and without any kind of intellectual consideration. They were simply shouted down and worse. To my mind, these actions set the stage for the sight of shipping containers and bulls in SWAT uniforms shutting down Peoples' Park. As we approach the second quarter of the 21st Century, it's obvious that a lot of our society, and yes, even a lot of the enlightened thinkers at places such as Cal, have jettisoned concepts such as the First Amendment of the Constitution. The mega donors of the professional managerial classes, in all of their varied guises, will go with the money, and ideas, for them, can pretty much fuck off. They have too much at stake for all that now, and places such as Peoples' Park, while they may be quaint reminders of noble actions that happened at some point in a distant and possibly over sentimentalized past, are ultimately just that. The Plan must roll on, and the Planners can't afford to be too romantic. And it's clear that most 21st Century Americans, if they noticed the events at Peoples' Park at all (which they mostly didn't), are cool with that. There's just not time to be bothered by that kind of thing anymore in this odd paradigm we've created here in the United States, well after the previous century and its often quite different societal aspirations.

Zohastre-Abracadabra; Zamzamrec Records, 2023

 

Awareness of Avant-Euro duo Zohastre came to Disaster Amnesiac by way of the great WFMU. During a recent streaming sesh I heard one of the tracks on last year's Abracadbra and pretty much immediately searched out and found a physical copy. The group pairs electronics and drums in ways that tickle and delight the ears. The electronics make any manner of squidgey, sparkling, burbling and just generally tone bent racket while the drums frame these sounds, often with very primitive blast beats. I figure that hardcore Heavy Metal fans might take offense to drummer Olmo Guadagnoli's somewhat primitive techniques, but I find them to be quite effective as they move knob tweaker Heloise Thibault's electronic statements. The tracks don't vary much in terms of tonal shifts or time signatures as such, instead relying upon Olmo's simple drumming to push the repetitive nature of Zohastre's concept to levels of trance ecstasy. Take a quick look at the figures on the very nice cover art for Abracadabra, and you'll likely get the drift. And as one listens, they certainly will be given ample opportunity to drift off into the bliss zones crafted by this creative duo. Put on Abracadabra at your next dance session or party, and you'll be guaranteed some fun hip sway, foot work, booty shake, or hand jive. A fine blending of Electronic Music, Now Metal, and Underground Dance, Abracadabra is a mover! Must find more sounds such as this for 2024!