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Saturday, September 26, 2020

The Claypool Lennon Delirium: Monolith Of Phobos 2016 + Lime And Limped Green "EP" 2017

Two worlds have collided, and what glorious and odd worlds they are. After a successful summer tour, pairing Primus with Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, the two bandleaders, Les Claypool and Sean Lennon, have decided to combine their abstract talents into a project called The Claypool Lennon Delirium. Their efforts thus far have spawned the upcoming, full-length release called “Monolith of Phobos.”                                                                          


Sean Taro Ono Lennon (Japanese: 小野 太郎, Hepburn: Ono Tarō, born October 9, 1975) is a British-



American musician, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Over the course of his career, he has been a member of the bands Cibo Matto, the Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, the Claypool Lennon Delirium and his parents' group the Plastic Ono Band. He has released two solo albums: Into the Sun (1998) and Friendly Fire (2006). He has produced numerous albums for various artists, including Black Lips, and the Plastic Ono Band.

Leslie Edward Claypool (born September 29, 1963) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, producer, author, director, and actor. He is best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the funk metal band Primus. His playing style on the bass is well known for mixing tapping, flamenco-like strumming, whammy bar bends, and slapping.                                                                                


“Sean is a musical mutant after my own heart,” said Claypool. “He definitely reflects his genetics--not just the sensibilities of his dad but also the abstract perspective and unique approach of his mother. It makes for a glorious freak stew.” After some impromptu, backstage jams and an epic live sit-in on
Primus’s psychedelic opus, “Southbound Pachyderm,” Claypool approached Lennon about doing a recording project.

“I was trying to wrangle up an Oysterhead reunion since Primus was taking a rest for 2016 but the planets just wouldn’t align for that,” said Claypool. “I don’t like sitting around, so when Sean said he didn’t have plans for this next year, we started kicking around the notion of making an old-school, psychedelic/prog record. Next thing I know, he’s staying in my guesthouse, drinking my vino and banging on my drums.”

                                                            


Lennon responded, “I told Les that I was Neil Diamond’s nephew. I think that is what really sold him on the idea of working with me.”


Over the course of six weeks or so, the two wrote and recorded a total of ten songs with both of them sharing various vocal and instrumental responsibilities, going beyond their core instruments of bass and guitar.
Claypool explained, “Usually I play the drums and percussion on my records but Sean has such a different feel than I do, it just made more sense for him to man the kit on most of the tunes on this project. I took the helm at my old vintage API console and let him bang away. He was happy as a piggy rolling in shit every time he grabbed the sticks…his drumming is like a cross between Ringo and Nick Mason. But I think folks will be most surprised by what a monster guitar player he is, especially when you prod him a bit.”                                                                              

“Monolith of Phobos” is just how the title implies--an old-school approach to a psychedelic space rock record.
Lennon added, “It’s been an honor and a challenge playing with someone of Les’ caliber, but luckily the Gods of Pinot Noir shone favorably down and granted us a bundle of devilish tunes about monkeys, outer space and sexual deviancy.”                                                                          
  
Artist Biography by Neil Z. Yeung                                         

The combination of two of rock's most fearless and experimental musicians seems like a no-brainer -- even more so when considering their pedigrees. In 2015, as his band the Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger occupied the opening slot for the Primus tour, Sean Lennon got to play with Primus' virtuoso bassist Les Claypool. An on-stage jam during "Southbound Pachyderm" convinced Claypool that John's son could really play, and the pair decided to collaborate on a new project.
The Claypool Lennon Delirium recorded at Claypool's home studio at Rancho Relaxo near Sonoma,
California, crafting an unsurprising sound, considering the duo's origins. Their debut single -- the eight-minute mind-bender "Cricket and the Genie" -- shifts and swerves from style to style, exploring the spaces between psych rock, prog, a little acid, a lot of abstract, and even experimental pop.
Their debut album, Monolith of Phobos, was released in June 2016. In April of the following year, the band released an exclusive four-song covers EP called Lime and Limpid Green to coincide with Record Store Day. A second full-length album, South of Reality, appeared in February 2019.                                                                          

Combining two significant rock pedigrees with a whole lot of weird, Primus' Les Claypool and Sean Lennon joined forces to form the Claypool Lennon Delirium. And delirium it is. Melding their

eccentricities, the Delirium succeed in shaving down each artist's whimsies, reining them in and creating an exciting amalgam. This project could have been an indulgent exercise in psychedelic excess, the result of two mad scientists misplacing merit upon a glorified jam session.
However, Monolith of Phobos is a treat. More focused than Primus and less precious than Lennon's solo output, the duo create kitchen-sink epics that rarely bore or allow for attention deficit. Based loosely on Buzz Aldrin's assertion that there is a rock purposely placed on Mars' "tater-shaped" moon, The Monolith of Phobos is a giddy trip into the galactic reaches of psych and prog.   

                                                                        


With meandering guitar, elastic bass, trippy flourishes, and some of the tightest musicianship this side of the galaxy, Monolith reveals a new dimension. Performing, producing, and engineering the entire affair themselves, Claypool and Lennon switch off vocal duties while allowing their instruments to wander through space. 

                                                                               


Claypool's bass is one of the stars of the show, adding a welcome low-end groove that Lennon's own

music sometimes lacks. Meanwhile, Lennon's guitar work and gift for harmony shine (he also channels much of the surreal spirit of his father's post-Revolver creations).
While not as kooky as typical Primus fare, Monolith still packs in a healthy dose of strange: there's the dirty journey of an old pervert who creeps through the night to get his rocks off on deviant voyeurism ("Mr. Wright") and a jaunty seaman's tale of a dentist who dabbles in alternative extracurriculars ("Captain Lariat"). 

    

 

There's also the theatrical two-part extravaganza "Cricket and the Genie," an ominously deranged tale about the dangers of prescription drug addiction. The final minutes of the second movement ("Oratorio


Di Cricket") lives up to its name, including a disembodied chorus that would fit perfectly into any Tim Burton/Danny Elfman production. "Oxycontin Girl" is the third part of that "Cricket" triptych, a eulogy for a real-life opioid addict. While the lyrical content of these three songs is unexpectedly heavy, the momentum is carried by the buoyant instrumentation, resulting in what sounds like Willy Wonka's Oompa Loompas doling out cautionary warnings in Alice's Wonderland.                                                                                  

Throughout, Claypool's plodding twangs ("Breath of a Salesman") and Lennon's melodic touch ("Boomerang Baby") maintain the levity and fun. On the finale, "There's No Underwear In Space," the duo grants over three-minutes of ominous atmospherics to let listeners drift off into the abyss. It's an apt close to a quirky work that twists and turns all over the place, finally bringing all of their ideas together before sending them off into the far reaches of space. 


TRACKS

                                                                        
01. The Monolith of Phobos  4:40
02. Cricket and the Genie (Movement I, The Delirium)    3:52
03. Cricket and the Genie (Movement II, Oratorio Di Cricket)    4:16
04. Mr. Wright    4:21
05. Boomerang Baby  5:48
06. Breath of a Salesman  3:27
07. Captain Lariat  6:00
08. Ohmerica    5:08
09. Oxycontin Girl  5:03
10. Bubbles Burst  4:10
11. There's No Underwear in Space (Instrumental)  3:27

Total length:    50:12

Personnel



 

Les Claypool – vocals, bass, upright bass, Mellotron, drums
Sean Lennon – vocals, guitar, Mellotron, drums, autoharp, cosmic rain drum
Money Mark - vocals, Keyboards
Paulo Baldi - Drum Kit

CRICKET AND THE GENIE LYRICS




What the doctor said could never be forgotten
“Son don’t you know that there’s a pill for every problem
In this little magic bottle that’s filled with love.”

Well little Cricket was only three
He rubbed his magic bottle suddenly appeared a Genie
And the Genie said, “I’m the Patron Saint of Prescription Drugs
So remember when you need a hug
Just close your eyes and give your bottle a rub…rub...”

Well Cricket didn’t need many friends
Because the Genie was such a perfect companion
His mother marveled at such an independent boy
She said, “Just remember when you need a hug
To close your eyes and give your bottle a rub…rub…”

Well little Cricket was twenty three
He rubbed his plastic bottle but found the bottle was empty
(The Genie was dead)
He was suddenly such an unhappy boy
He decided that he needed some fun
Went to the store, and purchased himself a gun…


You oughta try it, you realy oughta try it...
You oughta try it, you realy oughta try it...


MP3 @ 320 Size: 128 MB
FLAC  Size: 311 MB


LIME AND LIMPED GREEN EP 2017 


Label: ATO Records ‎– ATO0380
Format: Vinyl, 10", EP, Limited Edition, Misprint, Green vinyl
Country: USA
Released: 22 Apr 2017
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock, Indie Rock, Prog Rock, Psychedelic Rock

 
Lime And Limpid Green is a 2017 EP of covers released by the psychedelic rock duet of Les Claypool and Sean Lennon, under the name The Claypool Lennon Delirium. The album comprises four covers of songs originally by Pink Floyd, the Who, King Crimson and Flower Travellin’ Band.                                                                               


Lennon, whose mother Yoko Ono introduced him to the Flower Travellin’ Band’s work and who knew its members, chose their song as a nod to his fellow Japanese, who he said had been suffering since the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. It was originally released for Record Store Day in 2017, but it was eventually made available streaming.                                                                                                                                                              


The cover includes an apparent reference to Cylons from Battlestar Galactica, with the evolution of man from ape to human, into a cybernetic form, and finally a toaster, a slang term for Cylon in the 2004 series. The title of the EP is derived from the opening line of "Astronomy Domine".

TRACKS
SIDE A

 
1.
Astronomy Domine (Pink Floyd cover)    Syd Barrett    5:55
2. Boris the Spider (The Who cover)    John Entwistle    2:37

SIDE B

 
3. The Court of the Crimson King (King Crimson cover)    Ian McDonald, Peter Sinfield    6:49
4. Satori (Enlightenment), Pt.1 (Flower Travellin' Band cover)    Joe Yamanaka, Hideki Ishima, Jun Kozuki, George Wada    4:38

Total length:    19:59

Credits

Artwork By [Original Cover Art & Layout By] – Ben Wittholz
Bass, Vocals – Les Claypool
Drums – Paulo Baldi
Engineer – Les Claypool
Guitar, Vocals – Sean Lennon
Keyboards – Pete Drungle
Mastered By – Stephen Marcussen
Producer – Les Claypool, Sean Lennon

FLAC  Take It HERE

Monday, September 21, 2020

Various ‎– Be A Caveman - The Best Of Voxx Garage Revival 1979-1990 (2000)



The Voxx label, an offshoot of Bomp Records, was responsible for a large part of the '80s garage rock revival, and this disc culls 27 tracks of the finest from the 66 LPs they released. With a pool of prospects that large, you'd better be able to deliver a killer comp. They have.                                                                        


It opens with the Vertebrats' "Left In The Dark," one of the great lost '80s singles. It's a smoking combination of the Shadows Of Knight and Flamin' Groovies that was good enough for the Replacements to cover.    

                                                                          

The Crawdaddy's, the first band signed to Voxx, offer a terrifically garage-y cover of the Velvet Underground's "There She Goes Again," and the Pandoras, who'd later morph into the Muffs, redo "Gloria" as "Melvin." The Hypstrz's "Midnight Hour" would've reduced the Jam to little more than a pair of slightly singed, smoking shoes.           

                                                                       
We get lost gems like the Time Being's "Why Don't You Love Me," the band's only released track; the Unclaimed, featuring future Long Ryder, Sid Griffin; and Surf trio's poppy "Fun In The Summer." We also get garage legends like DMZ, with a pre-Lyres Jeff "Monoman" Connolly;                                                                              

the Fuzztones and the Chesterfield King's, with a dandy Chocolate Watchband cover. Most of it's less metallic and grungy than the garage bands of today on labels like Estrus.   

                                                                           


Inspiration comes from the original wave of Nuggets-era bands, and most tracks feature hard-charging guitars, pumping keyboards and snotty vocals. The only dogs to be found are Eye's Of Mind's slick quasi-psychedelia and the Steppes Beatley Music Hall tripe. Otherwise, it's pure rocking bliss. (Voxx)                                                                             


By John F. Butland
Published May 01, 2000

                                                        


                                                         
Various ‎– Be A Caveman - The Best Of Voxx Garage Revival 1979-1990

 


Label: Voxx Records ‎– VCD 2073
Format: CD, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 2000
Genre: Rock
Style: Garage Rock



TRAXS

01. Vertebrats: Left In The Dark    
02. DMZ: Can't Stand The Pain    
03. Crawdaddys: There She Goes Again    
04. Barracudas: This Ain't My Time    
05. Plan 9: I'm Not There    
06. Unclaimed: Run From Home    
07. Pandoras: Melvin    
08. Gravedigger V: Spooky    
09. Tell Tale Hearts: It's Not Me    
10. Miracle Workers: One Step Closer To You    
11. Time Beings: Why Don't You Love Me    
12. Fuzztones: Green Slime    
13. Odds: I'll Make You Sorry    
14. Vipers: Nothing's From Today    
15. Cynics: Waste Of Time    
16. Chesterfield Kings: Are You Gonna Be There?    
17. Stomachmouths: Dr Syn    
18. Wombats: Bye Bye Baby    
19. Laughing Soup Dish: Teenage Lima Bean    
20. Hypstrz: Midnight Hour    
21. Surf Trio: Fun In The Summer    
22. Eyes Of Mind: She Only Knows    
23. Things: Can't Get Enough    
24. The Leopards: Psychedelic Boy    
25. Steppes: Living So Dead    
26. Event: She's Our Girl    
27. Dwarves: Be A Caveman
   


Credits
 
Artwork [Cover Art By] – Rudi Protrudi (Fuzztones)
Compiled By [Compilation By], Design [Design By], Liner Notes [Compilation Liner Notes By] – Greg Shaw
Coordinator [Production Coordination By] – Betsy Palmer
Design [Design By], Mastered By [Mastering By] – Patrick Boissel
Mastered By [Mastering By] – Mark Wheaton  

MP3 Take it HERE

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Friday, September 18, 2020

Died Pretty: Sold 1996

 

Sydney band Died Pretty has produced some of the most inspirational rock music heard in Australia. By drawing on an eclectic and diverse range of influences (The Velvet Underground, Television, vintage Bob Dylan and Neil Young, 1960s psychedelia and 1970s progressive rock), Died Pretty unashamedly plundered rock's past to arrive at an original sound that was always passionate, atmospheric and uplifting.                                                                          


Velvet Underground devotee Brett Myers and rock journalist Frank Brunetti formed an experimental Suicide-styled duo during April 1983. With Ron Peno added, the aggregation took the name Died Pretty. When Jonathan Lickliter (bass; ex-End) and Colin Barwick (drums; ex-End) joined a month later, the band began playing the inner-city circuit. Ron Peno already had a considerable underground reputation via his stints with The Hellcats (a tough New York Dolls-inspired covers band) and Brisbane hard rock outfit The 31st (with future Screaming Tribesmen leader Mick Medew, and future Hitmen and Hoodoo Guru's guitarist Brad Shepherd). Died Pretty's early contemporaries included The Screaming Tribesmen, The Flaming Hands, Hoodoo Gurus, The Celibate Rifles, The New Christs, Sunnyboys, The Lime Spiders, Beasts of Bourbon, Wet Taxis and many other celebrated independent bands.  

                                                                             


Having signed to the Citadel label, Died Pretty issued three classic singles: `Out of the Unknown'/ `World Without' (April 1984), `Mirror Blues' Part I/ `Mirror Blues' Part II (October, 1984) and `Stoneage Cinderella'/`Yesterday's Letters' (June 1986), plus the compelling Next to Nothing 12-inch EP (August 1985). `Out of the Unknown' and `Stoneage Cinderella' combined sombre, evocative backing with intense guitar scree, while the 10-minute `Mirror Blues' was a driving psychedelic epic that packed an incredible punch. All reached #1 on the alternative charts. `Out of the Unknown', `Stoneage Cinderella' and `Final Twist' (from Next to Nothing) later appeared on Citadel's essential double album compilation Take Everything Leave Nothing (March 1988). By the time Died Pretty came to record the Rob Younger-produced Free Dirt, Mark Lock (ex-Phantom Agents) had replaced Lickliter and Chris Welsh (ex-31st) had replaced Barwick. Free Dirt came out in August 1986.  

                                            

What Goes On issued the singles and album in the UK while Closer issued Free Dirt in Europe. While the band's records sold well on an alternative level in Australia, interest in the band was at a premium overseas by that stage. Died Pretty left for its first tour of Europe and the USA in October 1986. In France and Italy, in particular, Died Pretty was treated as rock'n'roll royalty, which was a far cry from the complacency the band often experienced with homegrown audiences.

                                                                              



Lost (June 1988) was a more expansive and versatile album than Free Dirt. Lost became the second biggest-selling alternative album for 1988 (between Ed Kuepper's Everybody's Got to and The Church's


Starfish). It yielded the singles `Winterland'/`Wig-out' (Acoustic) (October 1987), `Towers of Strength'/ `From a Buick 6' (June 1988) and `Out of My Hands'/ `When You Dance' (November 1988). `Winterland' was the best-selling alternative single for 1987. In between the year it took for the album to be released, Steve Clark (ex-Glass) had replaced Lock. Long-serving member Frank Brunetti left in April 1988. Before he left, Died Pretty undertook its second tour of the USA and Europe. The last record to feature Brunetti was the #1 alternative hit `Everybody Moves'/`In Love Prison' (March 1989). John Hoey (ex-X-Men, Thought Criminals, New Christs) came in as his replacement. Hoey's first major assignment with the band was a third tour of Europe and the USA. Once the tour was over, the band recorded Every Brilliant Eye in Los Angeles with producer Jeff Eyrich (The Gun Club, The Plimsouls).                                                                                 

Every Brilliant Eye (April 1990) was one of the finest Australian releases of 1990. It included the single

`Whitlam Square'/`Sink or Swim' (February) and the double single set `True Fools Fall'/`A Ballad'; `Is There Anyone?'/`Kingpin' (May). Died Pretty's fourth album, Doughboy Hollow (August 1991), followed the formula set by Lost and Every Brilliant Eye, but with more spectacular results. Brimming with passionate, dramatic and alluring musical vistas, the album took the band into the national mainstream Top 20 for the first time when it peaked at #19 during September. It produced three, near-perfect pop singles `Stop Myself'/`Godbless' (July 1991), `D.C.'/ `Wonder' (September) and `Sweetheart'/`Time' (February 1992). One of the band's showcase gigs around that time was as part of the inaugural Big Day Out held in Sydney on 25 January1992.  

                                                             


It was to be another two years before the next Died Pretty album, Trace, appeared (September 1993). In the interim, both Clark and Welsh had left the band. Robbie Warren replaced Clark. Murray Shepherd,

Warwick Fraser (both ex-Screaming Tribesmen) and Stuart Eadie (ex-Clouds) filled in for Welsh until he returned to the fold in late 1992. While all that activity was going on, Died Pretty's manager John Needham had sorted out a new, worldwide deal with Sony/Columbia. Trace made its debut at #11 on the national mainstream chart (although it slipped out of the Top 40 three weeks later). It yielded four strong singles, the four-track 7-inch EP/CD EP `Caressing Swine', `This Reason'/`A Song for Me', `The Cross' (June 1993), and three CD singles, `Harness Up' (August), `Headaround' (November) and `A State of Graceful Mourning' (December). While the singles scored well on the alternative chart, `Harness Up' was the band's only national mainstream Top 40 hit single (#35 during September). Died Pretty contributed a cover of Laughing Clowns' `Eternally Yours' to the Various Artists compilation Earth Music (June 1994). `Eternally Yours' also appeared on the Earth Music CD EP along with The Celibate Rifles covering The Sports' `Boys! (What Did the Detective Say?)' and Painters and Dockers doing Mental as Anything's `The Nips Are Getting Bigger'.                                                                              

Died Pretty's last release for 1994 was the Days CD EP which came out in December. Days featured new drummer Nick Kennedy.

By the time the Sold album came out in February 1996, Kennedy had been replaced by Shane Melder (on loan from Sidewinder).
The Rob Younger-produced Sold album and its CD singles `Cuttin' Up Her Legs' (September 1995) and `Good at Love' (November) failed to chart, and Sony dropped the band from its roster in April 1996. Simon Cox (ex-Juice) replaced Melder in May 1996, and Died Pretty returned to the Citadel label for the CD EP Deeper (November 1996). Died Pretty recorded a new album, Using My Gills as a Roadmap (slated for release in early 1998), which produced another classic slice of pop in the new CD single `Radio' (November 1997). Lack of widespread commercial success has not blunted the acclaim that Died Pretty has always garnered from the music press and dedicated fans. Likewise, the band's remarkable recorded legacy has stood the test of time.

                      



Died Pretty’s seventh album, Using My Gills as a Roadmap, came out in March 1998, preceded by the second CD single, ‘Slide Song’, in February. With influences drawn from electronic sources like Kraftwerk and David Bowie’s Low, with some Roxy Music thrown in, the album was almost electric guitar-free (Brett Myers concentrated on acoustic guitar), with heavy use of keyboards and sample-laden atmospherics. The first single, ‘Radio’, had been the most pop-oriented on the album, with the rest of the material veering into esoteric pastures. Following a national tour in support of the album, Died Pretty slipped from view.

                                                                             


The band ended 1999 with the release of the compilation album outoftheunknown: The Very Best of … (November). The initial pressing came with a bonus disc of rarities and previously unissued tracks. Died Pretty went on tour to promote the album, playing all the classics from ‘Mirror Blues’ and ‘Everybody Moves’, on to ‘DC’ and ‘Sweetheart’.

TRAXS



01. Sold    
02. Cuttin' Up Her Legs    
03. Good At Love    
04. Cry    
05. Slipaway    
06. B.Loved    
07. She's Not There    
08. Stops 'N' Starts    
09. Which Way To Go    
10. 1, 2, 3    
11. How I Feel    
12. Comin' Down    
13. Hallelujah

ALBUMS

1. Free Dirt (Citadel, 1986)
2. Pre-Deity (compilation, Citadel, 1988; reissued on CD in 1992)
3. Lost (Blue Mosque/Festival, 1988)
4. Every Brilliant Eye (Blue Mosque/Festival, 1990)
5. Doughboy Hollow (Blue Mosque/Festival, 1991)
6. Trace (Sony/Columbia, 1993)
7. Sold (Sony/Columbia, 1996)
8. Using My Gills as a Roadmap (Citadel/Festival, 1998)
9. Outoftheunknown: The Very Best of … (Citadel/Festival, 1999)   


Credits

Bass – Robert Warren
Drums – Nick Kennedy (tracks: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 11), Shane Melder (tracks: 4, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13)
Guitar – Brett Myers
Keyboards – John Hoey
Mastered By – Don Bartley
Mixed By – Paul Q Kolderie (tracks: 1 to 5, 8 to 12), Sean Slade (tracks: 1 to 5, 8 to 12), Wayne Connolly (tracks: 6, 7, 13)
Percussion – Sunil De Silva
Producer – Rob Younger, Wayne Connolly
Strings – The Coda Strings
Vocals – Ron Peno
Written-By – Myers, Warren (tracks: 13), Peno

Manufactured By – Sony Music Entertainment (Australia) Limited
Recorded At – Paradise Studios (2)
Recorded At – Sony Music Studios, Sydney
Mixed At – Fort Apache
Mastered At – EMI Studios 301