Live shot #47!

 

Three Day Stubble nerding out at Eagle Tavern, San Francisco; July 2019. 

The funniest band ever!

Nubdug Ensemble-Volume 2: Blame; Pest Colors Music, 2021

 

Another Holiday Season has passed us by, and another Nubdug Ensemble disc has arrived! Leader Jason Berry continues his musical quest towards tightly constructed, thoughtful, swinging American Music! Volume 2: Blame brings these elements together in fresh ways, and Disaster Amnesiac has pretty well marveled at it since it showed up in my mailbox. Berry clearly didn't rest on his laurels after 2020's The Machines of Zeno. Not that I can hear anyway. Recalling Varese's quote, "the modern composer refuses to die", Jason's music lives in all kinds of exciting ways. 

Blame starts off with two vocal tracks, Blues and Bluff.  On the former, bassist Brett Warren blazes the path with drummer G Calvin Weston; his flows really move the listener into the song. When Steve Adams and Chris Grady supply the horn harmonies, one can hear the astuteness of Berry's writing, all juicy and jumpin' in ways that are pleasing. Jill Rogers has a powerful alto voice that delivers the lyrics, seemingly about shady financial transactions, with clear articulation. More Jazz than Blues, really, but it works. On the latter, Weston's big tom tom sounds push Amanda Chaudhary's keyboard lines, Rogers hits a bit higher note, and the horns again showcase a sophistication in Berry's writing. Disaster Amnesiac can't stress this enough: Jason Berry writes charts that are MORE THAN GOOD. Look out Gil, stay sharp Carla, you've got some competition. 

Again with those horns on Bloom! Dear reader, are you picking up on a theme here? Clocking in at under two minutes, this song has had Disaster Amnesiac pondering, and then more deeply appreciating, the ways in which Jason Berry can compact a ton of musical information into a tiny bit of time, and not lose any interest. As I've listened, I've thought about an interview with Black Flag from the early 1980's when they defended their songs' brevity as having all of the elements of a "normal" song, but just compressed with energy. It seems to me that the same applies to much of Berry's writing. He gets so many elements packed in, but doesn't lose the idea's thread. 

Moving on, Bleep gets a righteous push from Chaudhary, Weston, and Warren before Jason introduces noir soundtrack elements and the Adams/Grady team again evokes the classic Jones/Lewis wing of Big Band awesomeness. Rogers' clipped delivery breathes life into the surreal lyrics. What mystery is being addressed here? And how does this film for the ears give so much in its 2:54 duration? 

The next two cuts, Blood, followed by Blaze, return to the purely instrumental zone. Blood pumps with lovely flute from Adams over a casual ostinato from Chaudhary, with the solid beats of Weston, then cracks into bright trumpet sounds from Grady. It roils and pops throughout its duration, leading into futuristic synthesizer and drum pairings on Blaze. Much like their work together on Chaudhary's Meow Meow Band disc, Amanda and Grant get all sorts of bizarre going within their interaction. Weston's double bass riffing is great, and Chaudhary pulls out the battery of gizmo-delic whatzis, then, suddenly, you're within a straight 4/4 post-Bop rampage, with the cutting guitar of Myles Boisen leading the charge. Great solo there, Myles! Bet you thought Disaster Amnesiac hadn't noticed you! 

Myles shines again on album closer Block. This one's got a street Funk swagger that pulls from the Harmelodic side, made legit obviously from Ornette's star student of such, Weston. Surely Coleman would've smiled at those computer game lyrics, too. Adams is again hella sharp, Warren's bumpin' bass shakes the low end, and you're going to feel pretty happy yourself as well, unless rhythm isn't your bag.  Can this dance spark the revolution? What would this revolution entail? Would it be particle or wave? Choose wisely, and be sure to move that ass. It's good for the heart.  

As Disaster Amnesiac sits here, it's 322 days until Christmas. That's plenty of time in which to familiarize myself and re-visit Nubdug Ensemble's Volume 2: Blame. Rest assured, that will happen. Just like I said last year, anyone desiring tightly focused, well constructed Fusion music should find a way to connect with Jason Berry and then look forward to his Yuletide greetings. He's putting them out there, are you going to receive or what?

The Dead Tones-Deader Than You; self-released CD, 2006

 

When it comes to Horror Punk, Disaster Amnesiac has never been exactly up to speed. I've always had a copy of Legacy of Brutality around since 1986 or so, and I profess to love the graphic design and kustomized culture that so many of its leading lights utilize. It's a highly creative, active subculture, one that has had the admiration of this dude for a long time, albeit from afar. 

In light of that, the Dead Tones Deader Than You came across my visual radar at a Goodwill a few months back as Mrs. Amnesiac and I were perusing for a white elephant gift. The price of the disc, a few bucks at most, was right, so I took the chance. 

Happy to have done so, too. The music, generally performed at an amped up pace, has all kinds of great aspects. Notable is the way in which guitarist Jason coaxes from his Fender Twin-sounding guitar all kinds of examples of the killer ability of the the electric guitar to be both percussive and melodic. The way he plays chords during the verses of the music is always bright and very present, and when he brings a slide for the solo on the title track, or wigs out on Scarlet Street, it's very clear that he has spent time studying ways in which to be expressive with his instrument. Good on him for allowing himself to take some creative license with it. Joining with Jason in the upper registers is the organ playing of Tabitha. When Disaster Amnesiac first played this disc, it was her sounds that I found most intriguing, as they add a kind of mid-1960's Garage feel to the more Rockabilly one that is overarching. I guess that Horror Punk allows for this kind of mashup, and I am happy about that. Her sounds give all of the songs that lysergic edge that helps to bend the mind a little bit or a lot. It's a bold musical move, and it really works to add brightness and melodic atmosphere to the sound. 

Within the rhythm section, bassist/vocalist Andrew and drummer J, as mentioned, keep the pace brisk. Their rhythmic lock avoids a stock polka beat; when J's bass and snare combos kick things along, the listener can definitely feel their physicality. It's my hope that he also bought recording engineer Jason Testasecca (or are these two the same person?) a beer of two after these recordings wrapped. Testasecca captured great drum sounds on all of these tracks. Hearing the ways in which a Rock 'n Roll upright bass clicks and and burrs, along with its melodic aspects, is never  a bad thing, and Andrew accomplishes both with aplomb. His vocals are confident, and, dude can really sing. It's the sound of a front man doing his thing because he knows he can, and it's great to hear. Additionally, his lyrics are creative. The total package! 

As Disaster Amnesiac has spun Deader Than You, I've imagined how fun The Dead Tones shows must have been. Perhaps they happen still? Who would part with this kind of rockin' fun? Top notch Horror Punk, all the way through, ya ghouls!

Live Shot #46!

 

Alien Planet (Sheila Bosco and Collette McCaslin)

Temescal Arts Center, Oakland CA 2018

Ypsmael-Box of Black; eh Records #120, cassette

 

So during the last phase of Disaster Amnesiac's epic 2021 move, I lost the bio sheet that came with Ypsmael's new eh? Records release Box of Black. It's easy to recall that the sounds on this tape were produced for use within an art installation that utilized a completely dark room. Other than that, most of the details for Box of Black are murky to me. 

This kind of fits, though, as the music that Ypsmael conjured up for this release keep bringing me back to that word "murky". Things bubble up from the silence and kind of float there, interacting with other sounds in a sonic soup that immerses the perception in ways that I imagine would make for a pretty harrowing journey through a completely dark space. Disaster Amnesiac has had visions of falling through layers of spinning matrices, much like those shots from old psychological horror films from the mid-20th Century, in which the person is spun around and around, going deeper and deeper into the void as that action continues relentlessly. About three tracks in, an insistent rhythm clips out on the track Becol, and while this may give some relief to a listener, it's only enhanced the overall anxiety jam feel for me. It's as if the conveyor belt to the abyss has increased its pace and is pushing even harder at the mind. I guess that it harks back the early waves of Industrial Music production, Death Factory and their fellow travelers, and it still works. Disaster Amnesiac can groove with it in the light of the day, and indeed daylight times are the only times that I've played Box of Black. Honestly I don't even want to know how these sounds would hit me at night! 

(An aside here: did you know that Jeremy Benthem, consummate rationalist and inventor of the Panopticon, was deathly afraid of being attacked by ghosts at night? Just goes to show ya.....)

Getting back to Black, I guess it's not all doom and gloom as the track Rhombus gives off some neat synthesizer brightness for a spell before going dark again and Bob Outro hints at UFO Club-styled psychedelia, but even within these pieces it's tough to shake off the fear vibe, as that murky feeling evoked by the mysterious sound sources is never that far away within them. Again, imagine yourself hearing these sounds and not being able to see what's in front of or behind you..........damn. 

You have to hand it to Ypsmael, they certainly don't ever lose the thread of the apparent vision for Box of Black. Be brave while you listen to it, and just maybe have a close friend nearby to guide you back to light, should you drift too far into the darkness while doing so.

 

Bestia-Eternal Unions; (iN)Sect Records:IRS-078; digital single, 2022

 

Have things become hypermodern enough for you? The events of the past two years seem to have bifurcated society into camps that are either embracing this phase or rejecting it. Sadly, this cleaving has not exactly been of the most light nature; it seems safe to assume that everyone has lost something or someone as this realm which we inhabit has been pushed into some new form which has the heaviness of being pre-ordained somewhere, by entities seemingly far beyond comprehension. In short, this period has been pretty damn dark, and hypermodernism seems to have a lot to do with that darkness. 

Disaster Amnesiac mentions this as a way of introducing Eternal Unions, by Bestia, because its composer, Conrad Gonzalez, has embraced hypermodern means of realizing this new single. I'd also like to put forth the proposition that Eternal Unions give the listener multiple glimpses into sonic light and beauty that do a fine job of sloughing off some much of the darkness that has swirled around and seeped into so much of our lives. Bestia utilizes strictly digital/computer-based methods in order to put forward this audio light to uplifting results. 

The track skids into existence with a kind of glitch-ey sound, which seems to presage a more Noise-based feel, but then quickly lifts off into these heavenly washes that lead the listener into serene spaces of contemplative largo. These spaces are warm and welcoming, even if occasionally touched by strange electronic squiggles. Lovely flatted arpeggio float by, providing melodic counterpoint and grounding to the more abstract elements. It's an astute blending of light and shadow, much like watching January clouds, dappled by sunlight but filled with moisture, drift by your window. As I've listened, the concerns of whichever daily crisis that I'm supposed to by hypmodern-ly tuned in to have fallen away, and I'm left with a perception that is much more engaged with  the  moment, and much less inclined towards distraction. In that, Bestia is bestowing a nice favor upon the listener to Eternal Unions. 

Over the course of ten minutes, a calming musical utopia is, to borrow a term from Gonzalez, quilted together. It's a quilt that Disaster Amnesiac has found to be supremely pleasant to wrap myself up in. As this dumpster fire of a hypermodern era drags on, it's most welcome, and I can only image the kind happiness that a full length of music of this sort from Bestia would bring.

Vintage Disaster Amnesiac show notes!

These notes, written upon a copy of Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas, were taken at New Horizons in Richmond Virginia, probably spring of 1988. Disaster Amnesiac assumes that they were intended for a review in my high school pal Erik Grotz's  'zine, Action Time, but I don't know if they ever made into print therein. Action Time was cool, as was Erik, who had the good sense to go and see Honor Role at D.C. Space. I was not intelligent enough to do so, nor was I intelligent enough to not be bored by some of Penn's next band, Butterglove, at times during their set. Dude, c'mon! 

Above: Burma Jam and Butterglove get critiqued. I have no doubt that Butterglove were NOT boring, sorry guys, it was probably the pot Disaster Amnesiac had smoked

Below: Fugazi set described by me, then a quote from the inevitable "play Minor Threat" dude, who was addressed by Ian and then butthurt by that. Find this show at the Fugazi live archive and hear it for yourself

Below: Sonic Youth closed an intense afternoon of music. I recall Thurston asking the bartender for Cokes from the bar, along with noting that Richmond girls looked like they had just arrived from Spahn Ranch