Random shot!

 

Idaho Falls, ID July 2020. A moment of mental peace within an era defined by societal terror and fear.

These Primus drummer audition videos though.

 

Aside from watching the emotional melt downs post 2024 United States of America Presidential Election, Disaster Amnesiac has been digging on the ever growing crop of Primus drummer audition clips. Details regarding the genesis of the former should be obvious and merit little comment. Anyone paying attention to music during this time will surely be aware that anyone can be replaced. In a way, that's a testament to the effectiveness of instrumental study as a living tradition. So many proficient to other worldly musicians playing out there! It's a cool thing, but also much more interesting than the fate of an established long term professional Rock Band. Not that there's anything less than impeccable about Primus. A great band, made up of very skilled players that also managed to write, tour, record, release and successfully market their sounds within a seemingly limitless swath of the world. You just have to love that. Still, sometimes established ventures are more fascinating for their peripheral occurrences.

Last night Harold Of the Rocks was streamed at this very desktop (operating system getting wonky tbh). Disaster Amnesiac took note of the release date for Suck On This! and recalled going to what may have been a release party for the album: the Omni in Oakland, November of 1989. Recall seeing the Limbomaniacs on the bill and grooving out to the then new Paul's Boutique. Primus had already become a big deal band in the East Bay, that much was abundantly clear. The East Bay is damn tough too. It's pretty easy for people to give zero F's in the Bay. It wasn't just the band's one nerd or dork hanger-on shouting out the lyrics to multiple songs during their set, let's put it that way. That room was stuffed with people that loved the music being played. The memory of that show being a really moved and moving experience for audience and band alike has not been forgotten. It was cool to witness a band that was about to break out and break out we're talking: B-I-G. Fugazi had that same feel, but there were much different dynamics at play. Les Claypool and his pals were on their way to something awesome and doing it in an original way, much as Fugazi, but with a more Official Music Business veneer. 

No other band can ever sound like Primus. Primus is a band that influences. Probably a mixed blessing. At least, that was how a musician that I knew felt. J and I would get together and play with some other dudes; these dudes would mention aspirations towards getting sounds either exactly replicating or very closely replicating Primus. Thirty five years later, that's probably going to still be the case within many nascent band situations.That is is a no-brainer, due to the stated reasons.

Regarding the audition clips that are being loaded up to YouTube they provide evidence of a glut of fabulous drummers within the realm. Tons of guys showing proof that they know cuts all across the lengthy Primus catalog, knowing them to the point of being able to gracefully navigate their odd twists, subtle nuances, and balls out huge riffage passages. Mostly very large drum/cymbal kits are shown. Within the context of Primus music that is not sin and makes a lot of sense. Tim Alexander is a musical searcher who is always trying out new combinations of sound sources and rhythms. Again, the Influencer thing, and he can pull it off as can Larry and Les. One brave drummer submitted footage of himself playing a four drum/two suspended cymbals/hi-hat combination (BRAVE move man!), but for the most part Disaster Amnesiac has seen drum sets that would take a minimum of thirty to forty minutes assembly within the most forgiving of circumstances. No girls yet though? Sheila Bosco? Fliss Kitson? Where are you? Shit, now that I'm thinking about it, where is Moe! Staiano's audition tape? If you see that, please send it my way. 

It must be admitted that Disaster Amnesiac has also pondered how the Primus audition video has been received by the band and its management. Are Claypool and Lalonde texting each other with admonishments to dig on certain of them and goof on others? Is Tim involved in an advisory capacity? How much time does the band have before they make their decision on the right drummer? Will they live-stream a reveal video, wherein they play a set of select tunes? Which tweeting services will bear the news? 

No doubt most of the 'fellers involved with Primus will have other activities lined up as ways of filling time before the band's next engagements. Disaster Amnesiac will continue watching this interesting development from one of THEE San Francisco Bay Area bands. They have enough San Pablo Bay salt and grime to assure that fact.

Up Half-Known Roads Trance Edition

 

Several years removed from the last Up Half-Known Roads edition, and Disaster Amnesiac has figured it'd be a fine time for a new installment. That makes for four in almost fifteen years! Model efficiency for sure. I had hoped to do more of these, and Lord knows that there are plenty of "these" types of recordings floating around in my home environment. Blame inertia I guess. All that said, the focus upon trance states  within each of these recordings has been their most distinguishing characteristic for this listener. Each of these documents of drumming techniques eschews the dominant tendency of drummers to get flashy and display the mad chops that they've worked on; instead, these performers hone in to much more primal places, essentially using their instruments as vehicles for trance inducement. This type of production perspective begs close attention and rewards it. At least, that's been Disaster Amnesiac's take as I've listened to them over the years. Each of the three sound artists presented here go solo with their rigs, and all of them have gotten this listener pretty baked. 

 

z'ev-Production And Decay Of Spacial Relations; Die Stadt Records, 2006

Naturally, this post on Trance Music from solo artists must start with the man that went incredibly deep within that pursuit, the late lamented z'ev. It seems doubtful that anyone that peeps this blog would be unfamiliar with him, but if one does not know z'ev, one should seek out very deep interview/overview on him in RE/Search magazine #6/7. The guy had an astutely worked out musical system, one which he developed over several years of dedicated effort and achievement. The main recordings documented within Production And Decay Of Spacial Relations are from a 1981 New York City performance. Quite good sources for exploration of the trance state from z'ev, to be sure. The materials utilized by him during that time, reclaimed metals and plastics, were pounded, swung around, twirled, thrown and just generally played with over duration that allowed for these rich overtones to emerge within the resonant space. In keeping with z'ev's study of linguistic systems, Disaster Amnesiac often hears sigils and even alphabetical elements within the sound clouds conjured by z'ev. Incidental sounds can be heard within the cascading sheets of overt ones, and to take note of them is to have the trance state made available. The liner note mentions "recoding", and while this is intriguing to me and surely of great importance to z'ev, I can't figure out what it implies for this record. A second disc features live work from New York City performances in 1982 from not only z'ev but also alternate Stephan Weisser personas uns and element/L. Poetic methods are key within this one for the most part, but whenever z'ev was manning a sound producing object, Trance moves were bound to be included, and indeed are. Wade into these somewhat murky (on account of limited budgets for engineering and performing most likely) sounds and be transfixed into a reflective trance state. 

 

Will Guthrie-Sacree Obsession; Ideal Recordings, 2015

Disaster Amnesiac imagines that Will Guthrie is a member of the post John Zorn generation of Free Improvisation practitioners. The cover image, very KVLT, suggests an eagerness to explore those types of Postmodern and Further blending. Clearly gotta find more documents of his work, as they probably range all over the aesthetic map. On Sacree Obsession Guthrie utilizes drums, percussion, gongs and orchestral bass drum as means to produce long form sound worlds. These worlds are often characterized by longer tones. It sounds as if one intended timbrel effect is that of drone. The action starts with invocations from bells, then gongs are introduced. Mallet push textures out of the resonant metals. Surfaces wobble beneath the metals. Guthrie shows the musical astuteness to self-pace in the solo mode, and this often adissimo begets the trance that is accessible through the drone. And that's just side one! There are spots within side two's track that suggest overdubs, but Disaster Amnesiac sees no harm in that when they add to the lovely percussion phrases played. More well placed gong hits and stick control for drum nerds to note. Slashing energetics fly off of the turntable. Microtones again present and noted. Will's very skilled musicianship let the overtones emerge. This is a very rare in beautiful thing in an age of bashing the drums as best evidence of talent. I've imagined that Guthrie must have found some of those Trance sweet spots as he performed Timelapse and Pacemaker in France ten years or so ago.

Black Mecha-Black Mechanical DJ Set At The White Hotel; Death Of Rave Records, 2019

Here we encounter the kind of deliciously anomalous obscurity the Disaster Amnesiac is always in some kind of obsessive state over. The sounds captured on Black Mechanical DJ Set At the White Hotel do suggest that Black Mecha was involved in producing a live DJ set. Random human voices float up to the surface from the overall matrix produced from....what? Turntables? If that's the case, this is some of the most original Turntablism that's been released. Although there is the occasional break within the action, for the most part the sound on this cassette is a repetitive rumble that conjures up not so much any kind of discoteque but more like a laundromat with most if not all of its machines at full cycle. Yes, this is a paraphrase from Lydia Lunch. Lydia Lunch can certainly use words, many thanks for lighting the way. Possible keyboard breaks sometimes can be heard but, again for the most part this release's sounds just rumble along with a rhythm that borders upon obsessive (just like Will Guthrie, nyuck nyuck). I want to include it within this post for the reason that it's always pondered by when I hear it: "how would people have danced to this?" The answer that's been formulated within my noggin is that, if a person worked towards trance-out while being exposed to this music, they would have ample encouragement from it to have that occur. This thing's raw like that, and I always also wonder: "was Black Mecha invited back to The White Hotel for a return engagement?" Really nice, Futurist cover art, too, and sound that shows no sign of post-production on that end. Sliiiiiiiiiick. 

How was your Thanksgiving holiday this year, America? Did you have to go into any kind of trance in order to fend off unwanted "discourse" from politically adversarial guests or hosts? Obviously these recommendations arrive too late for this year, but they could help during functions at later dates than this. Surely people will be getting uptight about whatever the Current Thing is at those gatherings. Or you could just find them and check them out for the sheer pleasure of listening. They're out there, just as the trance is out there for any that need its refuge.

Live shot #150!

 

Guitar player, Govinda's Restaurant Tucson, 11/28/2024. Really good raga playing on a guitar. Plus delicious vegetarian food!

Live Shot(s) #149!

 

All shots from Golden Saguaro Tucson, 11/20/2024. 

Below: Neuro No Neuro. Delicate Techno Classicism through samples and oscillators. Sneaky inversions. 

 

Above: Jeff Greinke. Getting down to those deeper vibes. Subtly twisting the dials into clouds of yes. 

Below: Bedtime Reverie. Performative Therapeutic Chromaticism. Would love to hear this broadened into a band format. 

 

Post gig hang was to feature guitar playing in an innovative style with grilled cheese sandwiches served. Disaster Amnesiac was sad to miss, but early morning vocational pursuits compelled me to head homeward towards sleep, which eventually did manifest.

Live shot(s) #148!

 All shots taken at Screening Room, Desert Drone show 11/15/2024.

Below:

Chelsey Lee Trejo. Last minute substitution gig. Bowing bubbles from the sea floor.

Above: Ryan Chavra. Blended strings with analog synth sounds. Really lovely. Mind dancing.

Below: Alluvium. Most purely cinematic act of the evening. Big guitar sounds, guitar player not visible in photo, sorry.

Above: Deep Stay. Melodic keyboard and vocal catharsis. Short film loops.

Let the full moon inside of the room. 

Roy Haynes RIP

 

Another drummer of crucial importance to Jazz has swung off into the Great Home Going. Disaster Amnesiac saw Roy Haynes twice, once at Yoshi's in Oakland and once at the Masonic Hall in San Francisco. Such a subtle touch on his instrument. Dig his trio album with Pat Metheny and Dave Holland or the one with Rahsaan Roland Kirk's group. Roy Haynes just played and played and played.