Live shot(s) #224!

 

Shots taken at Crooked Tooth Brewing Tucson, 5/29/26.

Below: Moramarco! bring a distinct Bisbee vibe with their Southwestern sounds.

Above: Cat Mountain. Tight Folk rockin' band. Vinyl out! 

Xopher Davidson/Jacob Felix Heule-Resolution; Sirr-ecords Records, 2026

It's never not good news at Casita Amnesiac when word of new auditory creativity from Jacob Felix Heule arrives, as it has recently in the form of Resolution, which documents recent collaboration with Xopher Davidson. Across three long-ish tracks, this tandem team sets up some very righteous droning action from their varied and well considered instruments. Disaster Amnesiac saw Jacob play live on a fair amount of occasions back in the twenty 'teens and can sort of visualize the rig that he well could have been coaxing for many of his statements: a large bass drum turned on its side, resonant metals placed upon its surface, probably a cello bow. Surely Heule has added a few other pieces to this basic ensemble, but even if he hasn't, he has the skills at improvising which assure that just the right sound or silence is utilized as a way to serve the overall mix of the pieces. It's less clear what type of instruments Davidson handled during the recording of what sounds like a sectioned edition of one longer improvisational meeting. Ring modulators? Guitars/amplifiers? Synthesizers? Synth pedals? However they were accessed, it's just better to let the imagination run wild and to enjoy the inwardly visual aspects that recordings such as Resolution evince. It's very clear that Xopher Davidson and Jacob Felix Heule have great simpatico as an improvising duo. Their method sounds by no means rushed or forced. Instead its sounds emerge in manners that benefit from patient, more slowly paced moves. This allows for their impacts to be heard and felt. Find a method with which to quiet your mind and much sonic enjoyment can be had from the deep spaces explored by the two Oakland CA-based sound artists. People in north eastern Alamda County are advised to take in any of their live appearances! 

Sonny Rollins RIP

 

A fine, fun memory of Sonny Rollins, circa 2009. Mrs. Amnesiac and myself attended a concert performance by the now passed on tenior saxophone titan at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco. He had a trio for the evening, one that featured Al Foster on drums. Wish that I could recall the bass player but that's just not happening. The group came out, briefly acknowledged the audience, and proceeded to play a looooooong piece. Seriously, they played for ages, with Sonny in particular going off on his horn, extending melodic fragments and twisting ideas until they became some other idea, spiraling off and out into zones of Jazz bliss. It drove the people in attendance wild, that's for sure. It's not recalled by me as to whether that one song took up the entirety of their first set: it may have. That was the one time that I saw Rollins live, for better or worse. He stayed admirably true to the music that he loved for decades, and now that he's left this place America has lost one of its last standing practitioners from that remarkably strong culture that developed in the 20th Century, if not the last. Thanks for sticking around for so long, Sonny, and thanks for all of that beautiful playing you laid on me and a couple of thousand others that night on California St. back in the aughts. 

Live shot(s) #223!

 

Taken at Che's Lounge 5/24/26.

Below: Mark Pierce/Mad Mindy played shorter songs with cutting Punk Rock vocals and surreal lyrics that suggested time spent out on the highways.

Above: Mark Pierce/Joe Peña/Joe Novelli taking liberties within the American song form from a Southwest vantage and really doing it effectively. The perfect soundtrack to a surprise rain storm, come up from the south and west. 

Cello adds such richness to any music in which it is featured.

Ace and the Soulless-s/t; Ghost Rhythm Records 006, 2026

 

After a recent, tight live set from Ace and the Soulless at the really groovy Chicago Bar in Tucson, Disaster Amnesiac approached guitar player Johnny Soulless about the CDs that they had mentioned being on offer. I had no cash but Johnny just let me take one gratis. Many thanks are in order from me to that really great guitar player. It probably would have been the case that Ace And The Soulless got an enthuse session at this eighteen year blog. That Soulless suggested I "mention it online or something" sealed that deal. In what appears to be this group's debut physical release, the listener is treated to ten tracks of rockin', rooted and rollicking Rock 'n Roll. Ace Reztone plays the upright bass on all tracks, and of course this gives their sound that gritty blend of percussion-attained melody which can be achieved from the instrument in capable hands. Disaster Amnesiac will ask the reader to refer to the ways in which Bill Black's playing effected the Sun Records sessions for Elvis's early trio as a marker for that. Adam Galleano keeps his drum playing pleasingly simple throughout. His drumming frames the songs' forms and keeps their paces going on all tracks. Yet another Tucson drummer that lays it down with an elegance that never misses. Since we're talking about the instrumental approaches here it must be stated that Johnny Soulless is a fantastic guitar player. His tones on the vocal parts of this album's tunes are seductive to the attentive ear, and his solos rip and rampage when he takes them, even as their relative brevity appears necessary to Ace and the Soulless' aesthetic. In the vocal department, the contrast between the singing styles of Reztone and Soulless must be noted. The former has a clear, well annunciated delivery while the former gives a raw alto growl. The back and forth presentation of these disparate ways of Rock 'n Roll chant are astute in that the listener never tires of either. It's worked for a lot of different bands. The lyrical concerns range from explorations of self awareness to barroom flirtation to hard times laments and these are, as we all know, lasting topical themes within just about any American music in general and Rock 'n Roll specifically. If that makes you uncomfortable or offended I'd be willing to guess that the dudes of Ace and the Soulless would shrug and play on. During Where The Hell Johnny Soulless begs the question of where in the hell Rock 'n Roll is these days: c'mon my guy, it's in your hands! Tucson people are well advised to catch Ace and the Soulless within the lounge setting. If they hit your town, dittos!

"Yeah, But It's A Dry Heat": A Tucson, Arizona Complication; West World Records, 1993

 

A bit of the purely subjective right off of the the bat from this reporter: for a long time now it's been my intent to find contextual clues about a given place that may find me through music. Many years have been spent trying to piece together some kind of understandable narrative about locales such as Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Cleveland, Richmond VA, San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles...many many places. The music of varied cities and the regions in which they are located have tantalized me. 

Before moving to Tucson in September of 2021, Disaster Amnesiac was aware of Calexio (seen at a street fair in Oakland) and Giant Sand (seen at Great American Music Hall in 'frisco) from here, but that was kind of about all. The first live music that I had the pleasure to take in, Thanksgiving weekend 2021, featured a band playing covers of many different types of Metal; at that moment it became clear to me that music in Tucson has its very own unique characteristics, and that applies across genre. Tucson has quite a unique cultural gestalt and its music is a reflection of that. 

Just about five years into my residency here and said uniqueness still shows itself to me just about any time I have the pleasure of hearing musicians that live here play and perform music. In light of all that it would likely not come as any type of surprise to a reader of this post that Disaster Amnesiac was delighted to find an affordable copy of "Yeah But It's A Dry Heat": A Tucson, Arizona Complication over in Miami back in April of this year. Some observations after listening for a while follow. 

Earl's Family Bombers are featured first. Was this band a good draw in Tucson? Their two tracks are Slow Run and Green Corn. The former presents as a bit Mid-Western Hardcore and the gravelly vocals from the singer who sells it fine. The latter is bit more England 1979 or Berkeley 1990 with its gang vocals. Great guitar solo makes it for this listener. 

Lonely Trojans come up next. Nothing Is Random has a lot of features from contemporary acts of the early 1990's era, the tight snare drum in particular. Treble-ey bass and wide guitar chord chuckin' move this anthem. Speedway shows a different side of the the band as it's more traditionally Punk Rock in its method. The singer hits a higher note and the song has a brevity which helps. 

Did the Fells ever overcome their disdain for digital audio tape? Melodic Hardcore guitar tones and rhythms lead up to a wild, cool guitar solo on Pretend. When this song goes full meltdown it makes Disaster Amnesiac smile big. Tabouli has aspects of spoken word in the vocal areas: the music frames it thusly within the mix. The singer name drops the Fall so that's winning, as it its big, beautifully messy playing and Psych vibes. 

Al Perry and the Cattle had no disdain for digital audio tape apparently. Their contribution to "Yeah But It's A Dry Heat" is Losing Hand, a piece of proper Cow Punk with crackin' drumming and a grinding, non-Metal riff. Lyrics are troubadour in nature and they sound to have bypassed the Hardcore influence in favor of a more roots-styled aesthetic. That works, always!

Perhaps the most singular group on the record is Skinnerbox, whose singer laid down sultry vocal lines, framed by keyboard lines and thick bass tones on Whisper Parade. The female energy of the singing provides a nice bit of relief from all of the male angst that lead up to its appearance at the end of side one. Gothic Lounge sounds for some kind of emotional intrigue that took place, presumably, in Tucson. Whomever this song's lyrics are about, y'all got dissed pretty fiercely it seems. 

Side two features Mondo Guano, who played junk percussion and primal reverb guitar that really move. They seem to have been fascinated by mind control and societal masks, and Don't Look At Me admonishes people to avert their gaze indeed. This is some fine, primitive Psych. If you love bats, you absolutely MUST find a dusk during which you can stand near the overpass on Campbell near River and watch as the bats depart on their crepuscular journeys in search of insect blood. It's really quite the scene. 

Feed Me, the lone track documented from Zero Tolerance Task Force on the album, is a somewhat shambolic performance but the singer's recounting of life's varied foibles makes it a relatable and listenable one. A ripping second half of this song gets all Hardcore for a final push into sonic oblivion. 

The two songs by Fuzz are Diffused and Drill. They both have a lot of information packed within their structures: this was a tight, well rehearsed band. The drummer stomps really brightly and he must have been well regarded by the guitar and bass dudes. Fuzz hit pretty much Nu Metal zones at times, while twinned vocals on Drill evoke a bit of Fugazi influence. Disaster Amnesiac can envision scenarios in which Fuzz played with Ian's crew and maybe early tour stops by Korn. A really sharp, bombastic group they were.

Feast Upon Cactus Thorns appear next. Their contribution is Gonzo, an Avant Garage/Psych burner with Pop-ey changes that dip into some righteous jamming. It morphs into faster paced places and it's a really interesting blend of styles. UFO's are spoken of and the band jams out more than once, and tightly at that. Who has tapes of this group? Disaster Amnesiac wants more!

Arty anti-Vanilla Ice sentiments are presented by Slo-Deluxe on Vanilla Ice In Hell, a track done in solidarity with the scenes that he's been so lengthily accused of ripping off. Dunno, he seems pretty astute with his business and down to earth at that, so maybe all these years later he deserves some kind of break from all of the invective? Pounding percussion pushes yet more delicious, freaky guitar playing on the song. Tucson really spits out fine guitar players, along with drummers. Their promo blurb mentions cassettes for sale. Who has 'em?

Tight garage rockin' is called for on Shadows, by Malingus Youth, a group that sounds as if they worked on even their harmony singing. It's a unique song that ends way too soon. 

"Yeah But It's A Dry Heat" concludes with Blood Spasm and their tribute to the Old Pueblo on We Got Cactus, done in pure Hardcore that breaks down at exactly the correct spot. While the song is about Tucson, it was waxed in Los Angeles with one of the Bad Religion guys. 

"Yeah But It's A Dry Heat": A Tucson, Arizona Complication lists a clutch of other acts, not on the recording. They are: Doo Rag, Barely Bipedal, Head Cheese, Suicidal Drunk, and Skolliwoll. Hello to them as well. 

As Disaster Amnesiac has dug into this album, the question has arisen: have I partied adjacent with any of these people at shows? Or perhaps stood in line behind them at Bashas'? It's wished that I could tell them all how happy it makes me to hear their music and how stoked I am to get to spend some time in this wonderfully complicated town, even if Grant Rd. traffic currently makes me wanna holler.

Live shot(s) #222!

 

All shots taken at Chicago Bar Tucson, 5/16/26.

Below: World War 77 playing their first show. Fusing varied strains of Punk Rock into a Street Punk Blend.

 Above: Ace & the Soulless. Raw rockin' with fuzzy guitar slayin'. 

Below: Holy Nitemare: simply kick ass. Recording a 7" next weekend!

Foresight In Retrospect: A 10-Way Split, Or A Compilation; No Sides Records, 2026

 

Well gee whiz, No Sides Records, that's quite the mouthful for a release title! Right off the bat, let's just settle on calling this thirteen track compilation of sound artists' music Foresight In Retrospect, shall we? Disaster Amnesiac is grateful to No Sides for putting this release out there, and also for making this listener aware of the various projects featured upon it. Many and varied sounds and approaches to sound production are presented within its duration, so let's dive in. Chandra Shulka starts of the album with Antariksha, a sonic diptych of atmospheric sounds. Long tones and minor synth wave forms characterize this piece, one which could be excellent for an afternoon spent painting or perhaps a morning yoga sesh. There is some nice tweaking of sounds going on during its second half. The second track features percussionist Sean Hamilton, a name familiar to me. It's possible that I saw him play in 'frisco once, too. His track, User Experience, starts with small, wispy percussion bits before building into bigger clacks and scrapes. Bells join in a one is treated to a very intimate microtonal experience indeed. Eventually an avalanche of sound cascades within this feature of unique percussive ideas. Highly worth the eight minutes of its duration. Enchanted Helm come next, with three untitled pieces. Big synthesizer sounds fly by, graciously presenting big chords or are they clouds? Angelic voices ring and there's no shame in that, even in a scene that's probably pretty agnostic. Slow arpeggio forms follow with vertical harmonies very present and a conclusion of harder tones for a coda. Foresight In Retrospect continues with the wonderfully named Insect Deli, who pound the eardrums with straight up machine gun sounds on This Is the Version I Have Right Now. Crazed heaviness and spoken word ruminations upon ontology make this track an absolute crusher. Seriously insane action! Soundoferror have Disaster Amnesiac's favorite title for the proceedings on Hello Breakfast. There's just something so surreal about it. It's a track made up of three parts, with high register beepies and gackles, deeply rhythmic synth tightness and a consummate Head Music vibe that just hits correct while its music spreads out wide into signal feeds of delight! The Long Room is Bob Bucko Jr.'s contribution, wherein a drum machine pulse pushes the the keyboard and woodwind riffs into a Fourth World statement of international polyglot creole. It's a song of realm-wide trance moves which presents musical possibilities that should be further expounded upon. Two tracks of Dream Pop, Germs Burn and An Ode To Fred, are played by Peter Boof. Any kind of Darby reference and Disaster Amnesiac is in, that's a given. The latter is great for dancing around, while the former is more abstract in its sound but still playful. Living Room come up next with Untitled (Song Titles Are For Assholes). Why so dour? Harsh grinding primitive guitar/drums/noise action, that's why! A deeper listen shows that the Living Room dudes are indeed really good at their instruments, which literally rocks. The Avant Garde needn't worry though, as their is a ton on straight up Noise within this primitivist power trio. With Dub! The Drowned World must be Angus Maclise fans, as their Dreamweapon suggests. It starts out with a quite Minimalist arc and builds upon that with paced layers. It's a song like a sky full of slow moving cloud forms and as such very relaxing to hear. Last up on Foresight In Retrospect is Inscrutable Matter from Crow Hotel. Cool moniker and neat, dialed in electrical tones blend with wide Industrial samples to create a sonic junk heap of intricate granular details. Juicy electronics push and weave a track that gets pretty crunchy at times. Are they using contact mics to produce their machinic melodies? As stated, there a pleasing variance to the acts presented upon Foresight In Retrospect: A 10-Way Split, Or A Compilation, and any fan of underground sounds will likely be pleased to interface with all of them. You must be a bit tired of blasting your P.E.A.C.E. comp by now, surely, so seek this one out for some fresh examples from the subterranean music scene!

Live shot(s) #221!

 

Shots taken at On The Rocks, Tucson 5/9/26.

Below: Wrought Iron. Heavy Blues Rock with great lead guitar action!

Above: Soul Of the Sun bring earth moving riffs, an actual singer and more hot lead guitar action. Busting out new songs bravely. 

Below: Day Trails create adventurously progressive Pop blends. A unique band. 

Robert Poss + E-Clark Cornell-Kepler's Choice; No Sides Records, 2026

 

One just has to love a label that branches out into a broad range of musical approaches, a label such as No Sides Records. Since their initial contact with Disaster Amnesiac, it's been a pleasure to hear the many and varied sounds that they've pushed out into the world so far, not the least of which has been this year's Kepler's Choice, a release by Robert Poss and E-Clark Cornell. For starters just look at that great Abstract Expressionist cover art! Don't know about anyone else, but when this fan sees an album with visuals such as that, it's intrigue at minimum. Additionally interesting are the c.v. of this work's two creators. Poss found renown as a founding member of Band of Susans and Cornell has logged countless credits with some of the top flight Euro Art Rock bosses. These two have put in the work, that's for sure. As for the sounds of their collaborative work, they are based within the aesthetics of contemporary composition and symphonic works. Generally longer pieces during which modal explorations are presented, that's the set list on Kepler's Choice. Much of the album features moods of minimalist atmosphere, sometimes brooding and sometimes ecstatic. The duo of Poss and Cornell pull many different timbres from their respective rigs on each of the eight tracks, yet there is a genuine cohesiveness that binds them all, making for a very coherent listening experience. Pieces such as the ripple effect from an emotional error, Russian Tea Room, and Codified Betrayal would be so great if presented at and by a symphony. Large string sections would suit their writing ideally. Excellent piano passages extend forms but retain melodic aspects that are warm and inviting as their electronic frames float alongside and atop. Yesterday, as Kepler's Choice streamed from my desktop speakers a large rain front rolled up in the sky above, and it was the perfect soundtrack for observing it as it floated by. Find a nice quiet time and spot in which to listen to this low key but intense release from two veterans and it'll surely float your perceptions to some interesting spaces.

Live shot #220!

 

 

Chick Blundy & Tryin' Times, Slow Body Beer Tucson 5/1/26. Straight up honky tonkin' with an incredible guitar player. The drummer rules, too.

Modelbau-Nine Times Makes Ten; No Sides Records, 2026

 

No Sides Records made Disaster Amnesiac aware of Nine Times Makes Ten, a new release from Modelbau, a few months back. It took some time to get to really hearing it, though, mostly on account of the stated obsession with the Ramones debut at its 50th anniversary. With those thoughts out of the way now, it's been a bit easier to check into this quietly burning album from Dutch composer/improvisor/writer Frans de Waard. Its sounds are sourced from two reel to reel tape machines, in order to "uncover old ghosts in the machines", and in that endeavor Modelbau succeeds. The nine tracks on Nine Times Makes Ten all share an aura of mystery, each one building upon the somewhat eerie pulses of its predecessor. It's a perfect album for time spent drifting off into abstract mental zones or cloud watching. Indeed as Disaster Amnesiac sits at the keyboard and types these words, Nine Times Makes Ten's sound are perfectly framing a gloomy desert sky that's drifting across the Sonoran sky. It's great ambient music too, in the sense that one could also play it while attending to other tasks. Again, as this post is being assembled de Waard's sounds blossom in pleasing and inspiring manners that outline a mental space conducive to the imagination's wanderings. What are the source tapes from this album? Are they original recordings made by Frans? Whatever their origin, Modelbau certainly did find a way to reveal them on these broodingly intense tracks of sonic experimentation.

Salon De Musique-s/t; Savers Records #03, 2026

 

There are tons of compellingly mysterious tales from the era of Punk Rock, especially its early years, and for Disaster Amnesiac possibly the top one is that of Suburban Lawns and Su Tissue. The band's name appears on flyers from the 1978-79 wave of Los Angeles high greatness pretty regularly. There's one amazing LP and one decent EP from them, both of which I'm happy to have tracked down during my collecting years. Seek them out and when you see them, purchase on sight, regardless of cost. If you're a fan of Punk Rock, they will not disappoint. Their tunes were creative and intriguing, not the least because of the vocal delivery and lyrics of Tissue. She was a fascinating figure within that scene, and surely those that got to experience her live presentation must have been blown away. Suburban Lawns fans must surely also be aware of short clips on them playing live, on YouTube, such as one from San Francisco's storied Deaf Club or on New Wave Theater. From these stated documentary sources, it's clear that Su Tissue was deeply creative and inspired as an artist during those times. It's not recalled exactly where on the web Salon De Musique, the post-Lawns work from Su came across my listening radar, but the first hearing of it via download some time in the late aughts is. The lovely piano arpeggio, the mysterious vibes of the three long pieces within this 1984 release have, since that time, been a favorite for mellowing out type of scenarios at my listening station. Tissue's repetitive modal piano action, supplemented by soprano sax and electronic washes, and her wordless vocals, never fail to send Disaster Amnesiac into the blissful zones that arise from great Serialism. Salon De Musique has qualities of such deep reverence and veneration for the act of music making as to leave the massive negation of evinced by so much of the Punk Rock scene and a lot of its music behind in a cloud of purple beauty and otherworldly mystery. It's an album of sounds that, despite possibly being rooted within Minimalism, creates a totally unique world, and thankfully for fans, Savers Records has reissued it on a well-produced cassette at least twice within the recent decade. Salon De Musique is a crucial document of an important musical voice from the era of Punk Rock and Post Punk, a voice that, after its initial release, chose to fade away from the music industry entirely in order to find some other, purely personal and private vision. It's also a work that showed musical possibilities, blends of Avant Garde and Punk that were mostly disregarded. While that may seem sad for fans of Su Tissue and the adventurousness of her creative vision, we can be happy in finding these newly minted editions. Do not sleep on them, for one never knows how long these small batch cassettes will be pressed.

Live shot(s) #219!

 

Shots taken at Saint Charles Tavern Tucson, 4/25/26.

Below: Trikochet getting down to the business of grounded Prog trio interactions. Distinct SST Records late 1980's feels at times. Obscure and cool cover tune. Post Funk, Post Rock instrumental bliss.

Above: August Minotaur. Carnival prankster sounds with metaphysical lyrics from Tucson native. Poetry and street gang harmonies. 

What is the Saint Charles Tavern resident cat's name?
 

Live shot(s) #218!

 

Shots taken at Music Box, Tucson 4/24/26.

Below: Bear Down Bear are a duo who play and sing songs that deal with friendship, travel and the frustrations inherent in creative work. 

Above: Alex Wilkerson & Them. Tight trio interactions with fine Psych guitar soloing and on point harmonizing. Desert Blues! 

Music Box Lounge is a real gift to Tucson's East Side!

Ramones at 50

 

Ramones turns fifty years old this week and it's a noticeable event. Disaster Amnesiac has seen various social media personalities giving their takes on the incredible, impeccable debut from the first so defined Punk Rock group, the Ramones. It's realized that Lester Bangs had used the term, perhaps a few others, too, but I'm in the camp that Punk Rock as qualified began at Ramones. That being stated it's not the intention here to analyze that origin but instead to try and dig deeply into the essential album that Ramones is. Ramones music has been a study for this listener since 1984 or so, when in the latter months of 8th grade I became aware of musics other than Heavy Metal, which had me enthralled from about 1981 or so. Kiss a bit earlier on that timeline. Sophisto-Jazz and Funk and Disco and Soul Jazz a bit before them. Etcetera. Over the years since '84 this listener has listened to the Ramones with some regularity. Starting in late February of this year the need to dig even deeper and with much more focused intent and regularity due to the coming 50th anniversary of Ramones arose. Hence the album has been pretty much the sole soundtrack to any drives in my increasingly desert worn ride. Its speaker are still great though. Basically only songs from Ramones traveled through them from that time until yesterday. And not as if it's been removed from the CD player yet even. Guess it will be determined whether or not that remains the case after today. The entire album song to song must have been looped one hundred times. Here's the thing though, and I'm sure you're already aware of it: Ramones can and may just as easily will remain being blasted for one hundred more times before some other sounds are deemed critical. It just has this power which is so lasting, so enduring and forceful and essential as to render it timeless. Many times as I've listened to it over the past couple of months it's been realized that the album will remain being listened to by fans of music on its 100th anniversary. It's cranking within my ears buds at this very moment and continuing to offer new sound combinations or technical brilliancy or mind blowing lyrics delivered by a singular vocalist. Just now: a hidden harmony vocal on 53rd & 3rd, an aspect that to just this point in time has never revealed itself to me. And yet there it is. No way that Disaster Amnesiac is the only one going through this experience right now either. Ramones were a seminal band within Rock 'n Roll and its various offspring. Millions know it. Their children know it. Their grandchildren will know it. So forth Ramones will live on through several generations of humans. They're huge in Argentina. Ditto Spain. And New York City, Tokyo, Tucson. Do they have a following in Kabul? Moscow? A listening update: Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World's last strains of crunchy guitar are pumping into my brain. I'm about to scroll back to Blitzkrieg Bop and start the entire process once again. And there it is, those power chords and that plunking bass guitar and open hi-hat cymbals roiling, and here we go again and it's just as good as it was the last time and the time before that and the time before that one and on and on back to that first time the musical brain was exposed the magical chemistry of the Ramones. Ramones is a multi-tiered work. Musically its conception and execution are high level genius as people such as Rhy Chatham and Thurston Moore and Joe Carducci have stated. There was a point the other day as Disaster Amnesiac merged onto Congress St. from I-10 when the guitar line in Chain Saw reached points of the highest abstraction, JS Bach levels of heavenly otherworldly sound. Ramones being a work of the 20th Century it's a work conjured from electricity and electricity feeds amplifiers. The amplifiers' sound emanations feed into microphones which in turn send these signals to mixing boards, wherein they're mixed down or up into whichever alchemist's recipe is in need of. All musicians and engineers are hoping for that elusive alchemy in which something effective and lasting is brewed up. Ramones, as you well know, is such a brew. I Don't Wanna Go Down to the Basement is now up in the rotation. From the simplicity of the players' and the singer's approach arises an ensemble sound, so sharp and cutting as to be able to inflect fresh cuts each time it's utilized. Perhaps somewhat more problematically for at least Johnny Ramone Ramones is also a template for, after its emergence from the zeitgiest, the Punk Rock movement. It's been inferred that he wasn't a huge fan of too many exemplars for the genre that his and the other Ramones imaginations, as many of them found much more material success. Did Johnny realize that in 2076 there would still be a market for his band's music, which will surely be the case? Ramones also enshrined the negative affirmation with music and art. After the album's release the the public's hearing of it, it became more of an option to go with "I don't wanna", except in cases such as "I don't wanna be taxed at high rates to fund incompetent programs run by government", in which case even the Punkers and the Hardcore Punks tend to bond with their inner Little Emperor but quick. Hell, Ramones pretty much invented Hardcore now that I'm thinking about it: Today Your Love Tomorrow the World again. Ramones Ramones Ramones Ramones Ramones. Say it forty five more times in celebration of its golden anniversary. Better yet spin it fifty more times, even if it's just once a year for the next fifty years. Those, and even additional listens, will offer up rich aesthetic rewards for their listening. Ramones will never die.

Paul Chain Violet Theater-Detaching From Satan; Minotauro Records, 1984

 

The music and life of Paul Chain initially came to Disaster Amnesiac's attention through the late, lamented Pig State Recon blog. It was there that I was first appraised of Chain's fascinating musical journey from Death S.S. and its post Alice Cooper Heavy Metal to his own vision of a darkened and doomed Heavy Rock. While not exactly getting fully on board to the cult of Chain (too busy being a Lungfish/Pere Ubu/Saccharine Trust cult dude really), this listener always paid attention when Paul's sounds were mentioned and/or played. Happy to have copped Saturn Eye Records recent cassette reissue of Paul Chain Violet Theater's 1984 release Detaching From Satan, too. So often, these limited number releases are off of the perceptual radar within my own weird little world but thankfully for the ears not this time. This short album kicks off with Occultism and its sound is a fine calling card for the entire thing. Spooky metallic scraping is framed by minor key organ grind for a very Industrial mood until drummer Eric Lümen clicks in a brisk 4/4 and the riff begins. The verse part is a four on the floor stomp that leads up to a very expressive and liquid guitar solo from Chain. Apparently the lyrics are comprised of a made up language but as Disaster Amnesiac has listened they've just sounded like the normal Heavy Metal vocals. It's been often for me that the genre's lyrical content has been incomprehensible so really just kind of business as usual on that end. Next up, Armageddon begins with a chorus of male and female vocalists intoning with a Latin style, not Perez Prado mind you but, you know, Roman Latin. I gather this was intended to evoke feelings of Plague until the cutting guitar riff opens up, driven by pulsing bass guitar from Paul Dark and swift hi hat pushes by Lümen. This track is a Heavy Metal stomp rooted within the genre's original, initial moves and as such it's completely legit. Chain displays more of that colorful guitar tone when he takes the solo before pushing the big riffage again. Disaster Amnesiac still hears some kind of linguistic familiarity within the glossolalia but perhaps that's just because I'm stupid deep inside. Side two commences with Voyage To Hell and that's a trip that starts on a Heavy Metal guitar riff straight off. Arpeggio fly off of Chain's fret board while Dark and Lümen lay down some road-worthy stomping. It's no surprise when Paul Chain unleashes yet another killer guitar solo statement of course. He's a guitar hero that came up in the era of guitar heroes. Was Mike Varney aware of this album when it was initially released? The track ends with enticing synthesizer type drones before Detaching From Satan concludes with the mega Doom riff of 17 Day. For this last one, the band slows down and guest vocalist Gilas gets Heavy Metal dramatic with his vocal delivery. Disaster Amnesiac can swear that he's singing in English here, but, again, the lyrics and their intonation are of "purely phonetic la lingua cantata". More of that tripped out organ grinding goes solo before Chain splays out one more emotional guitar statement. Gilas speaks some of that lingua and the group chants atop the riffing as the whole thing winds down and the listener is left itching for more rollicking Heavy Rock from Paul Chain and his cohort. Disaster Amnesiac has read at an online forum how the title of this record was a veiled dig at his former Death S.S. co-conspirators. I guess there's no way of really knowing if that's the case but I'm certainly happy to get to know it as part of Paul Chain's documented works. Here's to hoping that Saturn Eye Records will lay more of it on the public in the form of reissue cassettes!

Live shot(s) #217!

 

All shots taken at the Miami Loco '26 fest in Miami AZ, 4/17/26. 

Below: Dead Idaho are a Tucson-based Space Rock band. 

Above: Courtney Odom's soulful singing was a real high point of the evening. Wonderful stuff.

Below: Toylit bring some Desert Rock and a manic singer.

 Above: Gracklz from Phoenix play Southwest Gothic absolutely righteously. 

It looks like Miami and Globe are recovering from the terrible flooding of last year. Miami Loco is a great time!

Erin Demastes & Bryan Day-Fridgeworks; Steep Gloss Records sg90, 2026

 

Instrument inventor/improvisor Bryan Day is certainly not lacking for gigs and collaborators these days and that abundance is the result of his hard work and perseverance, coupled with a vision that clearly appeals to the Improvised Music/Noise scene on an international level. Disaster Amnesiac watches with awe as Bryan moves all over the place, making sounds with an ever growing cast of collaborators. Of the latter, repurposed/handmade object/electronics player Erin Demastes is a new name to Disaster Amnesiac, but her resume shows that she's done her thing in front of tons of people at tons of places. This pair teamed up to produce the pieces featured on Fridgeworks, the 2026 release from UK based Steep Gloss Records, and it's a fine document of their sympatico as sound artists. This release features sounds that are generally placid; the listener will not be confronted with any grand gestures or histrionics. The two players intertwine their individual rigs' sounds with more studied approaches, and their sounds drift out from the speakers in ways that are mysteriously intriguing. Fridgeworks is characterized by more "cool" dynamics than "hot", yet as one listens it's clear that its work was done as its players interacted attentively during the process of producing it. Small pops and whirs and ratcheting moves interlock for three slow burn tracks. At the conclusion of one spin of this cassette, the ambient sounds from my neighborhood (car engines, muted human voices from within nearby houses, wind blown trees, etc.) merged perfectly with those coaxed by Demastes and Day from their sound sources. That dynamic is in keeping with the vision of the early Industrial artists and it's a major validation for the aesthetic strength of Frideworks. Place it in your deck and let it transport your mind to the keenly abstract sonic potentialities that float and fly around any aural environment.

Afrika Bambaataa RIP

 

He was a driving force in early Hip Hop culture, and the way that he took the violence of street level teens and turned it into a more positive force of culture creation is to be always admired. His duet with John Lydon, World Destruction, remains a favorite 12" jam of mine. Fly homeward now, Afrika Bambaataa.

Random shot!

 

Flagstaff AZ, Summer 2015. Mr. and Mrs. Amnesiac went on a road trip through the Southwest.

Live shot #216!

 

Drummer for Dirty Panty Tourniquet, St. Charles Tavern Tucson 9/20/25.

Jerome Kitzke-The Character of American Sunlight; Koch International Classics Records, 1999

 

Some years back Disaster Amnesiac's car was rear ended and totaled, which was a complete bummer, not only on account of having to then go through the hassle of dealing with insurance, finding a new ride, etc. I also lost a copy of The Character of American Sunlight, the collection of seven works by American composer Jerome Kitzke. See, the disc had been playing when my car was rear ended by another car, and there was no chance to eject it before having the thing towed and subsequently traded in for scrap. Mrs. Amnesiac still laments the loss of vehicle but Disaster Amnesiac must be honest and confess that the toughest part of the entire ordeal's fallout was losing that copy of some of Kitzke's incredible recorded works, 1987-1996. Perhaps an odd quirk of the music fan mindset, to be sure, but that being said the music contained therein was so fascinating to me that it just could not be forgotten. Over the years it's been a recording that has been streamed over various of my devices, but as stated I have continued to desire a physical copy for play, especially during drives. Recently I broke down and ordered the desired physical object and am absolutely stoked to have done so. Kitzke's sounds are a kind of shamanic chamber music most likely only possible to have been envisioned and produced by and American composer living in and interacting with American culture and that's very exciting to this listener. The Character of American Sunlight kicks off with 1991's Mad Coyote Madly Sings, during which tight percussion and melodic invention entwine from its onset. It has the flavor of the most focused and forward thinking Jazz, think Mingus or Braxton, and these sounds frame whimsical singing of a text written by Alan Ginsberg, Lakota people, and Tewa people. The piece spins tightly around the perceptions, rewarding close listening with the delight found in truly melodious musical presentation. A Keening Wish follows, and it contrasts higher and lower melodic lines while featuring a female soprano sung voice. Surrealist ruminations about love and fine, minimal percussion color this tense and dramatic piece from 1988, which also skews downright Classical at times, while never losing its American essence. A simple tap dancing pulse pushes the start of The Animist Child, during which the composer coaxes free rhythms and glossolalia from his imagination. Chromatic exploration and shamanistic vocalization ensue, and it's as if Kitzke felt the urge to go back to almost childlike roots on this piece from 1994. Still, the dramatic nuance of engaged adulthood is never far away. Oboe/clarinet/percussion gymnastics are on display on The Big Gesture, as more of that Jazz flavor is presented. Syncopated runs push counterpoint register statements as tight harmonic focus flavors the melodies of this 1987 work. For a percussionist it's a tune of tom tom bliss while a woodwinds player would surely get of mightily on the soaring oboe. If this piece was one of Jerome Kitzke's early calling cards, it's clear as to why he became recognized as an important voice within the field of New Composition. As a requiem for a  fallen comrade, Breath and Bone, with its pairing of accordion and voices, works in an emotional capacity that is never maudlin but more celebratory. It's American to the core as it hits upon First Nation notes and Bayou partying sonority. This listener finds a lot of wonderful similarity to the non Pere Ubu work of David Thomas in the piece, and that alone makes it great for this American. Pensive strings pull We Need To Dream All This Again out of the ether, which lead from largo to allegro passages fueled by more tight percussive syncopation. It's a a piece that runs the gamut from exceedingly simple phrasing to high complexity. Strings glissando and First Nations chant within its polyglot matrix of sound. The drama all leads to a beautiful coda. Yes, let's collectively find a new dream for this gauntlet named America! This collection of works by Jerome Kitzke concludes with the title track, which moves from the Impressionistic lines of its main theme and into sophisto-hobo Harry Partch-like territories with semi tones and junk percussion. Disaster Amnesiac has also heard a possible Messiaen influence at times during The Character of American Sunlight. The mid section of this piece has passages of such great splendor as to replicate that sublime light of the prairie or the desert or the forests on the Easter Seaboard. Pretty amazing, how much harmonic richness can be coaxed from a pretty simple instrumental lineup consisting of piano, harmonicas, percussion, and voices. They say that in America a person can achieve anything that they try hard enough to achieve. Disaster Amnesiac wishes for more musical achievements the likes of which Jerome Kitzke attained during the period that the compositions for The Character of American Sunlight were realized. Surely he's composed more since that time frame, and no doubt they're equally as compelling as the sounds found in this wonderful compilation. Oh and please do not tail gait.

Live shot #215 and shots of downtown Tucson at night!

 

Below: pedal steel player at Jojo's Restaurant in Tucson, 3/27/26. Really imaginative covers of tunes by Bowie, War, Nena and others. Totally enjoyed hearing his interpretations. 

Below: shots taken during a walk with Mrs. Amnesiac through various parts of downtown Tucson. New art at the Congress St. outdoor parking lot is looking great. 

Such a lovely evening in the Sonoran Desert. Ocotillo's are blooming currently. Time to hit a trail on the Catalinas!