McLuhan: Anomaly 1972

 

Founded in Chicago, USA in 1969 (?) - Disbanded in 1972 (?) McLuhan was an American experimental rock band emerging from a multi media art group. They played a warm seductive jazz rock that flirts around with a distinct early European psychedelic sound. There's so much more to the music, and what you find in stead of a typical fusion album, is a wild concoction of wobbly frenzied psych-drenched jams, soulful yearning blues moments of burning guitar and bleeding vocals and something akin to kosmische musik brought straight over from the German heartland.
                                                                   

McLuhan was a concept and a mixed-media group where no particular musical venue or style would necessarily prevail. The creator of the idea was David Wright who composed most of the music and

wrote the lyrics on their only album, Anomaly. Paul Cohn was a friend and fellow-student of David Wright at UICC (University of Illinois Chicago). He was also a sax, flute and clarinetist in a week-end prom group called the Seven Seas. When the band lost their trumpetist he asked his friend who he knew could play, to fill in. Soon after the group had a falling apart thing with the singer and guitar player who had big plans and wanted to be stars etc...
                                                                               

So after the two stars had walked-out, David introduced the remains of the group to the McLuhan concept. The idea was to try different things in performances including special sound effects such as baby's crying, various weird instruments, background sounds, playing old movies during their performance ("Monster Bride" was actually Bride of Frankenstein and in live performance they would turn on the movie at the point where the 20th Century Fox theme is played). The medium was the message", not the content. Labels didn't matter
                                                           

"The Wise-Fools Pub" on Lincoln Avenue in Chicago hired McLuhan to perform every Monday night and they developed a small local following. Their performance got really thight at Wise Fools, and

eventually it led to a Brunswick Record contract. McLuhan only was together for about 1 to 1 ½ years. And they never had a live performance promoting their album, because the very last thing they did was producing Anomaly. It got some obscure radio play but it was "dead" as far as the band knew. Anomaly's concept and ideas now sounds advanced for its time of release (1970). Uniquely american artrock in a brassy and groovy kind of way. Over the years its become cult album, but its never been re-released.
                                                                       

Of all the horn rock bands that appeared in the US and UK at the end of the '60s/beginning of the '70s, this is by far the finest act. McLuhan hailed from Chicago, just like the famous band that bore the name of said city. Unlike Chicago (the band), McLuhan clearly didn't have a pop-oriented approach, nor did they sound like they were interested in scoring pop hits. They have a genuine prog approach which is something you couldn't say of most of those other bands. There's a clear UK feel to the music, although the vocals do have an American accent.
                                                           

Lots of amazing horn passages that leave Chicago in the dust, tons of great jazzy and proggy passages, frequently with an ominous feel. The organ playing seems straight out of the early UK prog book (none of the organ playing is flashy like Emerson did). While Chicago is always brought up with bands that

use a brass section in a rock setting, McLuhan clearly didn't sound like those guys. There's elements of King Crimson in the music, but of that band's more mellow material (such as Lizard and Islands) and a bit of Zappa's big band jazz albums (Waka Jawaka, The Grand Wazoo). "The Monster Bride" is a wonderful opening piece, I especially like the ominous organ intro. Here you get to see what the band is made of.
                                                       

Plenty of horn passages, they even quote the famous MGM horn fanfare theme song. There's also a nice flute passage that later gets repeated as a horn passage. Also there's some disturbing spoken

dialog as well. "Spiders (In Neals Basement)" again shows how American horn rock and British prog can go together. "Witches Theme and Dance" features some really interesting use of slide whistle and synthesizer. "A Brief Message from Your Local Media" includes some quotes from Leonard Bernstein's "America", spoken narration about Henry Ford and how the assembly line helped produce mass-produced automobiles and make them available to the general public. There's more plenty of great proggy passages and that "Elecric Man" bit has a bit of a Beatles feel to it. To me this album just totally blew me away. It's really the best of both worlds: the kind of brass rock as pioneered by Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears (and British equivalents like IF, The Greatest Show on Earth, Manfred Mann Chapter III, etc.), and of prog rock, which will keep fans of both happy. This is realy an amazing great and strange album of prog-Jazz Rock vibes, unique in its kind that can not be compared to anyone else !!!
                                                

McLuhan – Anomaly
Label: Picar – PIC 812011-2
Format:    CD, Album, Reissue, Unofficial Release, Digipak 2010
Country: Spain
Released: 1972   
Genre: Rock
Style: Prog Rock

TRACKS

01.  The Monster Bride    10:36
02.  Spiders (In Neals Basement)    5:57
03.  Witches Theme And Dance    9:46
04.  A Brief Message From Your Local Media    9:59   
04a. The Garden    4:34
04b. The Assembly Line    3:33
04c. Electric Man    1:19
04d. Question    0:39

NOTES

                                                                 

Bass Guitar, Vocals – Neal Rosner
Design – N.B. Ward Assoc.
Drums – John Mahoney (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 7), Michael Linn (tracks: 3)
Flute, Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone – Paul Cohn
Guest, Timpani, Xylophone, Chimes – Bobby Christian (tracks: 1, 4 to 7)
Guitar, Vocals – Dennis Stoney Phillips
Illustration – Al D'Agostino
Organ, Piano, Voice [Screaming] – Tom (Tojza) Laney
Producer – Bruce Swedien
Trumpet, Vocals, Liner Notes – David Wright
Vocals – John Mahoney
Written-By – David Wright (tracks: 1, 3 to7), Marvin Krout (tracks: 2)

MP3 @ 320 Size: 84 MB
Flac  Size: 233 MB