Liquid Liquid - "Successive Reflexes" 12" 45 rpm, Vinyl, EP, Reissue, 2015/1981 (Superior Viaduct)

Liquid Liquid is a remarkable band from New York City, and they made noise in 1981.  "Successive Reflexes" is an EP of five tracks.  They're really not songs, but more of a groove with tons of percussion instruments. There's a tiny essence of a piano, but mostly it's bass and drums.  In a sense, they remind me of ESG, another band from the New York area of that same time/era.  Clearly, LCD Soundsystem is very much influenced by Liquid Liquid, which is a hybrid of post-punk, dance music and disco - yet, more geared in the dub era of Public Image Ltd.   They also remind me a bit of the Factory Records band A Certain Ratio.   

They made live recordings, but I prefer this EP of studio work, due to the experimentation of the sounds they are making.  There is something clinical but raw sounding about their approach, but it is clearly music to make you hop, twist, and shake your body parts.   

V.A. - "Ork Records: New York, New York" Box Set, 4 x Vinyl Compilation, Book, 2015 (Numero Group)

"Ork Records: New York, New York" is a crazed pandora's box. Once opened, it's hard to keep that energy contained within its packaging.  One of the best thought-out box sets ever in the vinyl world, "Ork Records" exposes the foundation, and how everything changed from the floor and up.  The record label had to happen due to the dynamic music being made in New York City in the mid and late 1970s.  With respect to Terry Ork and Charles Ball's label, Ork Records, it was ground zero for a literal rebirth of rock n' roll, when rock almost lost its roll.   It's a label that attracted brilliant and troubled characters as well as visionary geniuses who used the sonic abilities to capture inspiration as it was being made and processed through the local NYC presses at the time. 

Terry Ork sounds like he would make a great Patricia Highsmith character.  Gay, with numerous name changes to avoid the law, and an obsessed fascination with the cinema also had a thing about drugs and sleeping with young men.  What brings him to our attention is his cultivated taste for great music and the artists who committed themselves to their music.  The band that opened up the world of possibilities was Television.   It was Television's idea of doing an independent single release of one of their great songs, "Little Johnny Jewel."  Both Television members Tom Verlaine and Richard Hell were into poetry and printed their own book of poems, which was not an unusual practice for poets at that time (and still), but in that fashion, why not put out a record in such a manner as printing up a book of poems.  Terry Ork helped financed the move, and as a tribute to their manager, they named the label Ork Records.   Later with Charles Ball, who had more financial smarts, released a few dozen   45 rpm singles of various bands and artists.   This box set is the result of those releases.  The tremendous and weird thing about all of this is that there isn't a stinker in any of their releases on Ork Records.  Terry and Charles had the touch of genius in choosing their artists.  

With Terry (and Charles) being the center of the perfect storm, Ork Records was the springboard for New York City punk and new wave music at the time.  Television release of their single, brought Richard Hell's first record, and which meant Hell's guitarist Robert Quine making a record with rock writer legend Lester Bangs recording, which drew on Television's Richard Lloyd recordings, which got Chris Stamey, which led to Alex Chilton and so forth.   Ork was the head engine struggling to get over the steep hill, and they were carrying all these great musicians in their train compartments.  

"Ork Records" is a work of perfection.  The box set consists of four vinyl LP's and a hardcover book.  The book alone is worth the price of the whole package, but the music is exceptional.  As a teenager in Los Angeles, I have found New York as this mystical land where great things happen. When I hunted down the original Ork Records singles, such as the Hell and Television recordings, it was like getting a message from another part of the world.  I got the same feeling when I purchased the Chris Stamey recordings as well - his Ork release as well as music from his own label, Car Records.  It was an extraordinary world at the time, and re-listening to these recordings on this box set does not disappoint.  They were indeed excellent recordings of their time, and they still kick ass.  It's great to hear the Alex Chilton records in the context of this box set, because it's part of the narrative and it's essential that it is part of the story or Ork and the others who were involved in this world.  

By however anyone looks at this package, it's essential for those who will study NYC cultural history of the 70s.  For instance, if you are studying the arts such as conceptual art, painting, and especially poetry, you must have the Ork Records box set.  It's part of the puzzle or piece that when you look at it, the story becomes more evident. It shows how a group of individuals can make marginal music (due to the financial and structional cultural world of its time) and how in its weird way is sort of the mirror image of Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes. 

James Brown - "Live at the Apollo" Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 1963 (Polydor)

The best live album ever.   A great aural snapshot of a genius writer/performer at the tip of his greatness.   Another album that I was raised on.  My parents had this record, and my dad played it on a regular basis.  I remember putting the album on in his studio numerous times while he worked on his art.   As I have mentioned before, if Wallace (my dad) liked a record, he would play it over and over till it becomes a meditative or ambient presence in that room.  

When I play this album, I get such a vivid image in my head.  James Brown with a cape wrapped around his shoulder as he's being led off the stage.  But the intensity of the moment is too high, and he throws off the cape and runs back to the microphone.  James does this over and over again.  The repetition becomes a burning fuse, and one wonders if he is just going to explode.  The practice or discipline of art is very prominent in Brown's work.   That is what he has in common with Wallace Berman.  A performer is a performer no matter if they're on a stage or in the studio.  The mediums are different, and they have their own set of rules and practices, but the essence of repetition is to build the intensity to a level that is a natural high.  

When you look at the songs, Brown performed that night in 1963, that itself is perfection.   As I read the song listing, such as "I'll Go Crazy," "Think," "Lost Someone," and then the incredible melody on side two, it's all there in my head.  I can hear it now, as well as the audience screaming in ecstasy.  So yes, an incredible document of a time and place (the Apollo), but also a great work of art.  You can't beat the Four B's.   Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and Brown. 

John Cage - "The 25-Year Retrospective Concert of the Music of John Cage" 2 x Vinyl, Booklet, Limited Edition, 1959 (Modern Silence)

Ground zero for John Cage recording.  This phenomenal album is the essential document of a great concert that took place at Town Hall New York City in 1958.    Produced by Cage's good friends Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and filmmaker Emile de Antonio.   This is, at the time, was Cage's celebration of 25 years of composing and making music.   With the help of the art community, a concert was placed, and at this event, Cage and others performed his "greatest hits."  This is not only a document of a concert but also an important cultural moment that took place in Manhattan. 

David Tudor, Merce Cunningham, and Cage's wife, Xenia, as well as the composer, performed pieces in front of a hostile audience.  At least their catcalls mixed in with the bravos are clearly in the mix.  This is a real live recording!   Listening to the album, I really feel its presence in front of me.  There are not that many live albums that have that affect for me.   The works here are legendary, and Cage at the height of his creativity.   Beautiful packaging; this album is priceless to me. 

Angus MacLise "“New York Electronic, 1965” Vinyl, Sub Rosa

You have every album by The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, John Cale and even Moe Tucker, yet you haven’t yet purchased or heard Angus MacLise?  That’s a shame.  On the other hand, it’s not too late!   MacLise (1938-1979) was the first drummer for the Velvet Underground.   Not only the keeper of time/beats for that band, but also a composer, poet calligrapher, and occultist.   MacLise was an early member of the legendary Le Monte Young’s band, Theater of Eternal Music, which also had Marian Zazeela, Tony Conrad, Terry Riley, and future Velvet member, John Cale.  

MacLise is very much of a shadow figure in those days, due not only to being part of the Avant-Garde scene, but also according to Cale, he lived in his own time-zone, which he Cale commented as “living on the Angus calendar.” In other words, he wouldn’t show up for recordings or live gigs, and often disappeared for days.   The Velvets were offered a paying gig, and MacLise quit the band, claiming that was selling out.   And Moe Tucker replaced the drummer, and history was recorded.   

MacLise moved to Berkeley where he met and married Hetty McGee and they soon had a son, Ossian Kennard MacLise, who oddly enough was recognized as the reincarnation of a Tibetan Saint and became a Buddhist monk at the age of four.   This, of course, leads the family to Nepal.    Tragically, MacLise died in Katmandu at the age of 41.  A true adventurer on many accounts, and basically what we have left on this planet is various artworks, some writings, and the vinyl record album “New York Electronic, 1965.”  

1965 was the entrance for many amazing things happening in Manhattan.  The arts were exploding in different directions and in many mediums. Film, painting, poetry, literature was the ingredients put into the big bowl of soup.  Some artists took all the ingredients to make their own art, and MacLise was one of those artists who knew no wall or boundaries when it came to art making - or working in a laboratory of his own making - to record sounds.  With the assistance of John Cale and Tony Conrad, these insane artists came up with some pure magic.  The thing is, as you can gather, MacLise was not the most organized person on this boho planet Manhattan.  It took years for those who loved or in fascination with MacLise to find these tapes.   So, “Electronic, 1965” is very much an enjoyable document of a time, when things were really shaking in the creative landscape of New York City.

The essence of these recording, for me, is the adventure of exploring the unknown.  It has a relationship with what was happening in France, with respect to the Musique Concrete scene, but here, it is almost like a punk rock version of that world.  It’s music made by young men, who are enthralled with the world in front of them.   For me, listening to this album doesn’t represent 2016, but more of a beautiful snapshot of the past, when things were very new.  Artists like Jack Smith, Ron Rice were making independent 8mm/16mm films, and MacLise and company were supplying the soundtrack to these cinematic works.  

The sounds on this album are very organic.  Reels of tape speeding up/down, electronic blips, glass hitting against glass, percussion, feedback, gongs, ghost-like sounds, piano chords, string instruments, kitchen tools, various sci-fi sounds and what one would imagine would be the whole world of Angus MacLise.  At times, I imagine if one put their head under water, some of these sounds would be heard.  The echo and far-off aural delights that come and go on this album.  

Besides this album, there have been other recordings put out by various people.  Sub Rosa also put out a CD collection of his music, but now is out-of-print. Boo Hooray in New York City also have made vinyl editions of MacLise’s music.  He’s an important figure in New York underground world.  For one, he knew everyone who had the legendary touch during those years.  And he himself is a man of mystery.  We know when he was born and where he died, but the essence of him is very much like his music.  Hypnotic, ghost-like, and yet, a very positive presentation he left on this planet.   He rules the universe, even in death.  “New York Electronic, 1965, ” is a very essential recording.  Those who have an interest in the New York culture of the 60’s or have a deep interest in the avant-garde world of that time, must have this album.  Beyond that, for today, it is still as fresh as the sun arising.