With a lineup that fluctuates pretty regularly, including album credits that include slide guitar by Milk N’ Cookies, and a name that should probably not be Googled, it’s hard to pin down a group like the Master Musicians of Bukkake. This comes off their The Visible Sign of the Invisible Order release, which was co-produced by Randall Dunn and former Earth member John Schuller, who have both performed and recorded with the group. The name is a variation on The Master Musicians of Jajouka, a Moroccan group that is less band and more musical tradition that stretches back almost a thousand years. In an interview at The Quietus, Dunn explains the thinking behind the name:

Definitely one of the intentions is never to take ourselves too seriously. For me that’s part of foiling the aspect of a psychedelic rock band that can happen, where they can start creating a sort of pseudo-spirituality with their audience, and then start believing that it’s actually happening. Then it’s not long before a cult-like aspect can emerge. For us, you can’t have intense seriousness without intense humour, and you can’t deal with some of these things we’re talking about without having a gentleness or sleight of hand. And also, for me, it’s always been a commentary on ‘world music’ in general, this thing that’s been presented to us as ‘world music’ – like, what is that?

Dunn is also a prolific producer, working with drone/doom metal groups like Wolves in the Throne Room and Sunn O))). While many of the groups subsequent releases have been put out by Important Records, this record (their debut) was released by Abduction, best known for being the primary label for Sun City Girls. Master Musicians of Bukkake’s latest release, Far West completed a trilogy of albums known as the Totems. From the same interview:

So the whole Totem trilogy is about, obliquely in a way, the rise of this synthetic religion, and the failure of everyone to see that what really mattered was being replaced with this synthetic version – and everyone sort of being ok with that happening.

Not to be confused with the UK doom metal band of the same name, Solstice formed in 1980 and has had a rotating list of members centered around guitarist Andy Glass, who is the sole founding member still touring with the group. This track comes off their 1984 debut Silent Dance, which was recorded at Cornwall’s Isle of Light studios. Despite some fairly heavy coverage around the bands debut, they went on their first hiatus towards the end of the 1980s. Bassist Craig Sunderland worked as a session musician in the UK and other members produced a few records off and on. The group reformed in the early 1990s after a CD reissue of Silent Dance and released two albums, New Life on Progressive International and Circles on A New Day. For Circles, they were joined by former Jethro Tull drummer Clive Bunker, who also performs on their 2007 live album The Cropredy Set, which features their full set at the Cropredy Festival. Festival Music reissued their previous records on CD in expanded editions including remasters, live performances, and original demos.  The group still tours and performs today, with their latest release, 2013’s Prophecy, produced by Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson.

This track was the B side on a split 7″ with late garage icon Jay Reatard in 2007 put out by Germany’s P. Trash Records. Molded from the same pop punk Memphis clay, Boston Chinks had only one more release, Coltrane, before the group split. The image in the above clip is actually the cover to Coltrane. Drummer Billy Hayes also played with Jay Reatard’s band from 2005 – 2009. He and fellow Reatard alum Stephen Pope joined Nathan Williams’ Wavves before the release of 2010’s King of the Beach. Ex-Boston Chink Alex Gates joined soon after and still tours and records with Williams’ project. Hayes left Wavves soon after King of the Beach’s release and, along with Gates, formed Cretin Stompers. The group released their first LP, Looking Forward to Being Attacked, on Hozac Records in 2014.

These experimental tapes from one of Velvet Underground’s founding members were thought to be lost to history until they were discovered in the possession of Tony Conrad, who performed and recorded with Cale as part of the Theatre of Eternal Music. In 2004 it was released by Table of the Elements as the massive 5 LP box set New York in the 1960s. “Summer Heat” comes off the first disc of that release, often referred to as Sun Blindness Music. Cale originally recorded this track in 1965, three years before Velvet Underground was formed, and the heavy distortion and use of repetition are characteristic of the Theatre of Eternal Music, although its members utilized a variety of instruments and recording methods. Angus MacLise, another member of the Theatre of Eternal Music, was living with Cale when he was recruited to join Velvet Underground. Maclise, Cale, and other members of both Velvet Underground and the Theatre of Eternal Music were heavily influenced by La Monte Young, who founded the Theatre of Eternal Music and ushered in a wave of minimalism in American music that still holds influence today.  Below are some links if you are interested in learning more about this fascinating period in American music history.

Selected Writings of La Monte Young & Marian Zazeela

Features an interview with La Monte Young where he describes his upbringing, musical training, and composition process as well as a lecture given in 1965 to the Halprin Dancer’s Workshop.

Fear Is A Man’s Best Friend

Unofficial John Cale fan site with lots of links & Cale-related resources.

Almost two decades before he would roll up his suit sleeves and help define the sound of the 1980s, Kenny Loggins was a California teenager caught up in the psych-pop sound of the late 1960s. He formed a band called The Second Helping and penned four singles for the group, including the above track, before moving on to write four songs for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s 1970 release Uncle Charlie and His Dog Teddy, including “Prodigal’s Return.” After that record was released, he met Jim Messina, who was producing for Columbia at the time, and the two recorded a few of Loggins’ songs in Messina’s living room. Loggins signed a six-album deal with Columbia with Messina set to produce his debut, which also apparently involved encouraging Loggins to buy his first electric guitar. Music, and electricity, would never be the same. During the recording, Messina became so involved that it became 1971’s Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina Sittin’ In, which features gems like “Same Old Wine.” The two found success touring college campuses and would release seven more albums throughout the 1970s before Loggins would go solo and, in between recording and touring, do cocaine on speedboats or something probably. His output while a part of The Second Helping has been released on numerous psych compilations. He continues to be an integral part of my father’s least favorite song of all time, “Your Momma Don’t Dance.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M03_8cSw6AY

Madou formed in Belgium following the break-up of the Flemish folk band Rum in 1978. The group comprised Wiet Van De Leest and vocalist Vera Coomans, who met after Coomans joined Rum in 1975 along with bassist producer Sus Proost. Following Madou’s 1982 self-titled release, Van De Leest collaborated with Pas De Deux then took some time away from music to work as a park ranger before briefly reuniting with the members of Rum in 2005. Around that time, Belgian label Choux de Bruxelles reissued Madou’s album, including a new arrangement of the group’s other single, “Witte Nacht.” In 2010, Van De Leest helped compose a tribute to American folk musician Derroll Adams, who spent much of his life in Belgium, as part of the annual Ghent Festival.

Nicaraguan composer Alfonso Lovo’s music career had what some in the business might call a “rocky start” when he was shot in the hand while on a plane highjacked by sandinistas. He eventually found his way to Lousisiana State University and his hand must have really healed because while a student he recorded and released Terremoto Richter 6:25 Managua, featuring “Managua Nicaragua Blues,” in 1972. He also recorded “Freedom Fighters” in 1980 as part of the group Wolf and the Pack. Combining native Nicaraguan guitar, latin jazz, and funk he was able to put together sessions with some of Nicaragua’s top musicians including Santana percussionist José Areas. Although these sessions received a limited release after their recording,  Numero Group reissued La Gigantona in 2012. Enjoy!

I was lucky enough to pick up a copy of this at Reckless Records on a whim and it has been one of my favorite records over the last few years. Transept are based out of Norwich, England and they run the appropriately-named Dronehenge Records  to release their material. This track is off their 2011 release and if you like what you hear above be sure to check out their 2013 Buff as Fuck release because it’s a great followup to this tremendous record. Phil Archer of Transept was a guitarist in Japanese/UK art-rock group Hyper Kinako, and some of the punchy threads in that group seem to have been picked up in Transept. Hyper Kinako, featuring Jane Pow member Phil Archer, put out a couple 7″ in 2003 and then disbanded. Transept has a great mix of heavy drones, jammy instrumentation, and a penchant for great song/album names which comes in handy when making this kind of music. If you order this record, you could win a bonus track!

One randomly chosen copy also comes with an absolutely one-off a cappella version of ‘Leopard Slug Love Song (live from Brokeback Mountain)’, double-etched (using a Wilcox-Gay Recordette) on to the silver side of a CD of Wham’s ‘Fantastic’.

So I was out and about this weekend and didn’t get a chance to do any tracks of the day but I thought I’d make it up by having a threesome with my computer and your eyes/ears and whatever internet service provider you are currently beholden to. These three tracks are pretty distinct but are all really great tunes so hopefully the wait was worth it.

Analog Players Society – I Can’t Wait

If anybody has never spent an entire weekend listening to Nu Shooz’s “I Can’t Wait” then I guess we have less in common than I thought. This is one of those songs that I’m positive most people have heard but have never sought out the name or artist of and I’m here to tell you that once you know how to find it, you won’t stop. That is if you don’t get hooked on the Analog Players Society version first! APS is a bit of a supergroup that coalesced around Studio Brooklyn and its head honcho, Amon. Featuring members of groups like TV On the Radio, Beirut, and Blitz the Ambassador as well as Amon himself, they have a pretty diverse output but most seems to fall within the dub, dancehall type stuff that admittedly I’m not super familiar with but I dig this cover a lot. The design of their physical releases seems to harken back to the glory days of soul 45s, and it’s hard to argue with the vibe either. I’m partial to the instrumental version but theres one with vocals too, both of which make me think of the first ten minutes of rap videos that take place in the summer where it’s just shot after shot of people sweating like they just finished the Cairo half marathon.

Speaking of old soul 45s…

The Revelations – Take Care of Us

While I await my bounty from the amazing moving sale that Numero Group was having this weekend, I dug into this Local Customs: Downriver Revival release and I think the above track is my favorite so far. Admittedly I did not pick up this compilation during the sale and the more I listen to it the sadder I am. Born just downriver from Detroit in Ecorse, Felton Williams and Moe Asch created a number of labels that produced a wide variety of acts and their output received the Numero treatment a few years ago. With hidden gospel gems, outtake jams, and an undeniable groove, this whole comp is pretty great but for me this track highlights what I love so much about Numero. When you hear songs like this, it’s just amazing The Revelations didn’t make money hand over fist when this was recorded.

Stag Hare – Vessel Part One: Pulse Cocoon

Moving to the more experimental end of the spectrum to round out this trifecta, Pulse Cocoon is a five movement reimagining of previously released material from a number of other of Stag Hare’s releases. Based out of Utah, Stag Hare has put out some physical releases on Oakland’s Inner Islands both in cassette and 12″ form. I’ve started listening to Spirit Canoes which is available on 12″ and is really excellent so far. One of the sources of Pulse Cocoon is the Tapestry project, which involves commissioned improvised pieces that, once completed, will be delivered as a digital file and a home-dubbed cassette tape. Unfortunately she is not taking commissions currently, but I’ll be checking routinely because the ones I have listened to so far have been great. I remember when I found Expo ’70 and realized how much he had already released and it was a great feeling to have so much music to explore and I feel the same way about Stag Hare.

Side B off a split release with Curb Cobain out on Dusseldorf’s Computer Beach, the depth of this track points, at least to my untrained ears, towards some cassette manipulation. Even if that isn’t how Quick Brown Fox made this rich droning track I’m saying it anyway, because I dig that sort of stuff a lot. It sounds like a bunch of monks performing Gregorian chant got ahold of a vocoder. Or like the Terminator 2 on the cover is coming through the web to find you. Enough with the stupid comparisons. Just find some time and enjoy!