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.