Birdsongs of the Mesozoic - Fossil Record 1980-1987

The Fossil Record is all unreleased material by the original lineup (featuring Roger Miller) & an excellent overview. ''Birdsongs Of The Mesozoic has found a common ground amoung garage band rock, classical, minimalism, UK progressive rock, and it's own favorite noises.''-The New York Times. ''...fantastically innovative music.''-Exposé. ''...a fresh & almost indescribable fusion of rock, jazz, modern classical, sampled sound & noise.''
Recommended for the highly adventurous (let's face it, a band that lists "chain on metal, a Mercury Cougar hubcap and a paint can" among their instruments should be a fair warning as to their 'unorthodox behaviour'. No pun intended here, except to say that BRAND X sound like pussy cats compared to these guys). Fans of ZAPPA, KING CRIMSON, AFTER CRYING and particularly UNIVERS ZERO will love this.

Studio Album, released in 1993

Songs / Tracks Listing 1. Sound Valentine (3:16)
2. Pulse Piece (3:07)
3. The Transformation Of Oz (2:21)
4. Tyronglaea (2:44)
5. Chen/The Arousing (1:56)
6. Sombre Reptiles (3:08)
7. Laramide Revolution (5:33)
8. Out Of Limits (2:34)
9. Biff The Brontosaurus (4:11)
10. Carbon 14 (4:40)
11. Modern Warfare (3:45)
12. March (2:22)
13. Lqabblil Insanya (4:36)
14. Slo-Boy (3:48)
15. To A Random (23:19)

A taste of what Djam Karet sounds like as a 5 piece in 2009

A taste of what DK sounds like as a 5 piece in 2009.

The Music:
1. Dedicated To KC (Excerpt)
2. Room 40 (Excerpt)
3. The Red Thread (Excerpt)
4. Sexy Beast (Excerpt)
5. Grooming The Psychosis (Excerpt)

Djam Karet 2009
Gayle Ellett: The Keyboards (Access Virus Snow, Moog LP, Nord Electro, Manikin Memotron)
Mike Henderson: Electric Guitars
Aaron Kenyon: Electric Bass
Mike Murray: Electric Guitars
Chuck Oken, Jr: Acoustic & Electronic Drums

Djam Karet - The Devouring (1997)

Djam Karet play very original and innovative music. "The Devouring" is more than 70 minutes of serious Progressive Rock with a lot of improvisational structures, though you won't find here elements of Jazz Fusion at all. The music is invigorating, the themes are fronted mostly by powerful electric guitars and synthesizers, though sometimes Djam Karet tend to be more spacey, especially on Lost, But Not Forgotten (3rd track) and Myth Of A White Jesus (5th track). As a whole, the music here can be described as original, often very powerful, instrumental Rock with quirky guitar solos and complex musical interplays from three (including bass) electric guitars, synthesizers and drums

Rip Rig & Panic

Rip Rig & Panic was a post-punk band, founded in 1981 and who broke up in 1983. It was named after a 1965 jazz album by Roland Kirk. It was fronted by Andrea Oliver and its members included singer Neneh Cherry, Sean Oliver, Mark Springer, and Gareth Sager and Bruce Smith, the latter two formerly of The Pop Group.

The group strayed from more conventional post-punk, mixing avantgarde elements with jazz and led by Cherry's innovative pop/soul singing style. They also recorded with Don Cherry and Nico (on a BBC radio session).

The band notably made a guest appearance in an episode of the British sitcom The Young Ones performing their 1982 single "You're My Kind of Climate". Rip Rig & Panic became Float Up CP in 1985 and produced the album Kill Me in the Morning. The band dissolved shortly thereafter.

Mark Springer has continued to record as a solo artist and has a number of CDs available

Sun Ra - The Singles

SUN RA
the singles (2 cd's)
This treasured collection, The Singles, took three years to produce, collecting virtually every 45 released by Sun Ra from 1954 through 1982. It is considered the holy grail for Sun Ra collectors. It was pieced together from the contributions of private collectors around the world, and sonically cleaned up far beyond the audio capabilities of the original vinyl they were pressed on. It also features a 36 page booklet, with liner notes written by four respected Ra experts, and contains historically significant photos.

This astonishing collection features the oddest 45 rpms
ever. What the hell was Ra thinking when these singles
were originally issued ? Did he honestly think they would reach the national US charts with deranged tracks such as "Muck Muck", which even The Cramps would baulk at ? Whatever the reasons, they make thrilling listening especially "State Street" which captures Sun Ra and his Arkestra with a swing that Cannonball Adderley would have envied. The fact Ra did not bother to pursue this option when he obviously could, have makes this set all the more enigmatic. Fascinating music from a true original.

Sun Ra New York, Electric Circus 03-68

Eclectic, outrageous, sometimes mystifying but always imbued with a powerful jazz consciousness, the music of Sun Ra has withstood its skeptics and detractors for nearly three generations. And well it should, since Sun Ra has been both apart of and ahead of the jazz tradition during that time. Like Duke Ellington and swing-era pioneer Fletcher Henderson, Sun Ra learned early on to write music in an arranged form that showcased the specific talents of his individual Arkestra members, and he has retained the services of some of these musicians to this day: John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, and Julian Priester for example since they first joined in the 1950's. On the other hand, Sun Ra was the first jazz musician to perform on electronic keyboards (56), the first to pursue full-scale collective improvisation in a big band setting, and his preoccupation with space travel as a compositional subject predated bands like Weather Report by about 15 years.All this from someone who refuses to even cite the earth as his home planet and prefers to have arrived from Saturn. As Sun Ra once explained it, "I never wanted to be a part of planet Earth, but I am compelled to be here, so anything I do for this planet is because the Master-Creator of the Universe is making me do it. I am of another dimension. I am on this planet because people need me".

Sun Ra New York, Electric Circus 03-68:

01 - Lights On A Satellite
02 - Unidentified
03 - Friendly Galaxy-Untitled Improvisation
04 - Satellites Are Spinning (Part 1)
05 - Satellites Are Spinning (Part 2)-Untitled Improvisation
06 - Calling Planet Earth
07 - Somebody Else's Idea
08 - Spontaneous Simplicity
09 - Space Aura

John Cage meets Sun Ra

Strange, zany, and still at points incredible and amazing, John Cage and Sun Ra performed this concert in 1986. Sun Ra steals the show, improvising amazingly on his Yamaha synthesizer and simply mesmerizing anyone who hears the music.
These facts about these two men are essential to understanding this live performance. Without this information, the 45 minute performance seems terribly odd and zany. Sun Ra’s spastic, heavy synthesizer matched with Cage’s minimalist, sparse vocal noises seem all too much for a stable, sane human mind. On this recording, there are literally minutes of absolutely no music going on at the time. Cage showcases his “chance music” theory on this live recording, and the crowd apparently knows his ideas well. However, the recording quality diminishes from the chance music theory. Either the crowd kept incredibly silent or the recording did not pick up the sounds coming from the crowd. Overall, the recording quality of the performance is quite poor, often sounding like an old 50s movie.

The History Of Moondog

Moondog was the nom de plume of Louis T. Hardin (May 26, 1916 – September 8, 1999).
Born in Marysville, Kansas he started playing a set of drums made by himself with a cardboard box at the age of 5.
Hardin was blinded in a farm accident at the age of 16. After learning the principles of music in several schools
for blind young men across central America he started teaching himself the skills of ear training and composition,
becoming then a self taught man and artist. From the late 1940s until 1974, Moondog lived as a street musician
and poet in New York City, busking mostly on 54th Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan. In addition to his music
and poetry, he was also known for the distinctive Viking garb that he wore, which included a horned helmet.
He partially supported himself by selling copies of his poetry and his musical philosophy.
Because of his street post's proximity to the 52nd Street club strip, he was well-known to many jazz musicians and fans.

Painkiller (2005) 50th Birthday Celebration Vol.12

1. Your Inviolable Freedoms
2. Dpm
3. Prohethood Of Chaos

Live Recording

Painkiller:
Mike Patton (vocals)
John Zorn (saxophone)
Bill Laswell (bass guitar)
Hamid Drake (drums)

MASSACRE (Fred FRITH, Bill LASWELL & Charles HAYWARD) - in Paris 2008

Live in Créteil (Paris suburb) 22 February 2008
Fred Frith - guitar
Bill Laswell - bass
Charles Hayward - drums, melodica


This was their second appearance at the Sons d'Hiver festival (their first was in 2003) and once again, they delivered a wonderful set.

It is an audience recording, with excellent sound.

Buckethead - Colma (1998)

Colma is Buckethead's fourth studio album, released March 24, 1998, by CyberOctave records.

The title of the album makes reference to the small town of Colma near San Francisco, California, where "the dead population outnumber the living by thousands to one".

Berklee College of Music alumni Teri Untalan guested on two tracks of the album. In a 2009 interview she recalled Buckethead as being "an odd one, an elusive character".

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Buckethead.

1. "Whitewash" 4:44
2. "For Mom" 5:10
3. "Ghost" 5:29
4. "Hills of Eternity" 5:07
5. "Big Sur Moon" 1:13
6. "Machete" 6:18
7. "Wishing Well" 4:03
8. "Lone Sal Bug" 5:32
9. "Sanctum" 3:42
10. "Wondering" 2:16
11. "Watching the Boats with My Dad" 5:07
12. "Ghost Part 2" 2:31
13. "Colma" 3:15
54:28

Notes

* The song "Colma" is identical to the Pieces song "General Butterfly", but excludes the spoken dialogue given (presumably by Buckethead) throughout the song.
* The song "Hills of Eternity" is named after the cemetery "Hills of Eternity" where Wyatt Earp is buried.
* The song "Wishing Well" is identical to the Pieces song "Danyel", but excludes Buckethead's singing.

Personnel

Performers

* Buckethead — guitars and bass.
* Brain — drums and loops.
* DJ Disk — scratches on "Machete," "Hills of Eternity," and "Lone Sal Bug."
* Bill Laswell — bass on "Machete".
* Terry Untalan — cello and viola on "Wondering" and "Lone Sal Bug."

Praxis - Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis)

Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis) is the first album by Bill Laswell's everchanging "supergroup" Praxis. This first album features Buckethead on guitar, Bootsy Collins on bass and vocals, Brain on drums, Bernie Worrell on keyboards and DJ AF Next Man Flip on turntables and mixer.

Transmutation features a wide range of musical styles, all mixed together to make a very diverse and unique album. Styles such as heavy metal, funk, hip hop, ambient, jazz and blues are blended together to form a strange style of avant-garde, with extended guitar and keyboard solos, and highly improvised passages.

1. "Blast/War Machine Dub" 3:51
2. "Interface/Stimulation Loop" 2:17
3. "Crash Victim/Black Science Navigator" 3:42
4. "Animal Behavior" 7:09
5. "Dead Man Walking" 5:14
6. "Seven Laws of Woo" 5:05
7. "The Interworld and the New Innocence" 6:29
8. "Giant Robot/Machines in the Modern City/Godzilla" 6:38
9. "After Shock (Chaos Never Died)" 16:20

Note: Track 8 starts out with the Giant Robot theme, that is also featured on Buckethead's Bucketheadland album.

* Praxis:
o Bootsy Collins - space bass, vocals.
o Buckethead - guitar, toys.
o Brain - drums.
o Bernie Worrell - synthesizer, clavinet & vital organ.
o AF Next Man Flip (Lord of the Paradox) - turntable, mixer.
+ also known as Afrika Baby Bam of the Jungle Brothers