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