I spent the better part of yesterday sitting on the couch listening to records. It'd be cool to say that I just stayed home to enjoy a mental health day. The truth is that I frigged up my back this past weekend and good ole Mr. Sciatica finally forced me to bust out the ibuprophen, the heating pad, and a small pile of recently purchased used vinyl.
There are some great finds in this stack including a mint copy of Frank Zappa's London Symphony Orchestra ($10, but worth every penny) and Rockpile's Seconds Of Pleasure ($2!)
Also in the pile is a record called One Down by Bill Laswell's pick-up supergroup Material. Unlike the more modern Material, which plays a kind of spaced-out & dub-infused funk, this 1982 release sits more in the pop realm. What was it about the 1980's anyway? So many records sounded like they were recorded with the exact same set of instruments: the synths, the electronic drums, the handclaps. Even this record, with a diverse lineup including Fred Frith, Nile Rogers, Nona Hendryx and Nicky Skopelitis...manages to sound like the soundtrack to a John Hughes movie.
Despite the 80's production sound, there's one track on One Down that make me feel my five bucks wasn't wasted. "Memories", full of synth and electronic piano, also has..get ready...Whitney Houston on vocals and, even weirder, Archie Shepp on tenor sax. Just as you get used to hearing Whitney singing in this un-Whitney context, out comes Shepp to blow a skronkoid solo. It's jaw-dropping.
By the way, Mr. Sciatica is much more well-behaved today.
(First posted on Mark Is Cranky)
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