the of mirror eye

* Fusaxa Rheine (14.0 mb) | Trobairitz (14.5 mb)
From Amulet : Last Visible Dog : LVD 101

I remember seeing Fusaxa as an opener for Bardo Pond and being thouroughly enchanted and mesmerized. I had no idea what to expect, as I was there to see the headliners, but was definitely glad that I got there early enough hear this band. Hearing Fursaxa, the solo project helmed by Tara Burke is a mystical experience. Using synths, keyboards and guitars, she builds up a drone with which to intone largely wordless vocals over. Using delays, reverb, echo and samplers she creates an otherworld and invites everyone to join her.

It seems that the best way to experience Fursaxa is in the live setting. Unfortunately, that’s not always going to be possible, so this right here is a good consolation prize. Amulet presents us with a series of live recordings that really captures the intensity of those performances. Rheine has Tara Burke in full on solo mystic mode, while Trobairitz has added contributions by members of Bardo Pond.

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* Laura Nyro and LaBelle: I Met Him On A Sunday (2.5 mb) | You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me (6.0 mb) | Jimmy Mack (3.5 mb)
From Gonna Take A Miracle : Columbia/Legacy : CK 85762

I can’t tell you just how much I love Laura Nyro. She’s an amazing songwriter who writes within traditional genres but brings her own skewed musical sensibilities to the table. And the results are stunning. Her previous efforts (look here) explored the pop world. Taking that genre and completely making it her own. She does the same on this, her exploration of soul music. Laura Nyro, along with friends Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash, and the production team of Gamble & Huff, managed to create a wonderful combination of soul music filtered through Nyro’s musical sensibilities.

Laura and Patti became so close that Laura sometimes hit the road with the group, hanging out and cooking for them. It was in that spirit that Nyro phoned up her new friends to invite them to sing on Gonna Take A Miracle. The sessions were in LaBelle’s home base of Philidelphia and were produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff…. The studio was booked for a week, yet by the 6th day, nothing had been recorded because everyone was having way too good a time vibing. The schedule grew so tight that Patti actually bet Huff a sizeable chunk of cash that the songs could be knocked out in a few hours. According to Vicki, Gonna Take A Miracle is first takes, partially because everyone knew all the songs by heart, but mainly because there was simply no time. That probably explains why “Jimmy Mack” starts off with an electronic whir and Laura quietly saying “Jimmy” as if she’s testing the microphone. Give all praise due to goofing off and then getting down to business, because Gonna Take A Miracle shimmers with energy and honesty. (

from the liner notes)

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I apologize for the late posting. I tried to “fix” the router, which instantly made the interweb unreachable for a number of hours. What can I say…I have a way with electronics!

* Eels with Strings: Bus Stop Boxer (4.0 mb) | Dirty Girl (3.5 mb) | Trouble With Dreams (5.0 mb) | The Only Thing I Care About (3.0 mb)
From Live At Town Hall : Vagrant Records

I first heard about Eels from one of my work partners. He wove a tale of lead guy Mark Everett, a pop auteur who, after releasing a very well received debut album, experienced great family tragedies. In coping with these tragedies, he crafted a pair of albums that, while stronger than his debut, were too depressing for the general public to appreciate. This album sees Mark teaming up with a string quartet and two other multi-instrumentalists to recreate songs from his back catalog. I haven’t heard too much stuff by this guy (in fact this album is the first that I’ve heard by him) but I definitely want to hear more.

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* The Ramones: Blitzkrieg Bop (3.5 mb) | Judy Is A Punk (2.0 mb) | Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue (2.5 mb) | I Don’t Wanna Be Learned/I Don’t Wanna Be Tamed (Demo) (2.0 mb)
From Ramones : Rhino Records : 74306

Back in the mid 1970’s (the middle of the “superstar” cocaine/heroin binge of bands like CSNY, The Band and Led Zeppelin), four youts from Queens took the Ramones as their last name and hit on the brilliant idea of bringing music back to the basics: three or four chords, catchy melodies and juvenile delinquent inspired lyrics…played loud and fast.

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* Blue Cheer: Summertime Blues (6.0 mb) | Doctor Please (13.5 mb)
From Vincebus Eruptum : Mercury : 314 514 685-2

In the genre of “loud, dumb, fuzzed out psychedelic blues”, Blue Cheer rule the roost. They were the original power trio that played balls out 100% of the time. Formed in 1968, the original line-up of singer/bassist Dickie Peterson, guitarist Leigh Stephens, and drummer Paul Whaley only lasted for two albums, Vincebus Eruptum, their debut and Outsideinside, their follow-up. A reformed Blue Cheer released a couple of albums after this but, except for one of them, there’s really not much point in seeking those releases out. This album, on the other hand, is pure psychedelic mayhem.

There’s only one reason anyone has ever been interested in Eruptuming: Leigh Stephens. In the summer of 1967, Stephens heard the accumulations of blues and rock inside his head, and formed Blue Cheer, situating himself between Cream’s rhythmic tightness and Hendrix’s flamboyant excess. Fortunately for us, Stephens was resolutely less experienced than either, and in the process of developing this incompetence, he inadvertently birthed punk, heavy metal, and the most primal version of the inexorable and inept guitar freak-out. Vincebus essentially acts as the juncture of the lethally lethargic, basement-murder morass of Sabbath and the vomit-spewing anxiety of early punk rock. There may be occasional blues passages, but trust me, there’s no overlap. When Stephens solos, there is nothing but wind-howling terror.

Blue Cheer’s signature song, “Summertime Blues”, is a prime example of this bludgeoning. The band makes several attempts to get their instruments to sound like they’re playing together, but whenever singer/bassist Dickie Peterson and drummer Paul Whaley accidentally forget that they’re in the same band, Stephens rushes into the mix with a mind-expanding psychedelic gundown. Eddie Cochran’s version actually sounded like summer; this sounds like whatever kind of season they have in a coal mine with skeleton scaffolds. The production is so lo-fi, it’s practically transcendent. Whereas psychedelic used to be all about the Grateful Dead and Strawberry Alarm Clock (maybe “Tomorrow Never Knows” on a good day), Stephens was one of the progenitors of those gloriously nauseating spaz-outs we now know was to be the future of rock.

(from Alexander Lloyd Linhardt)

I’ve only just recently jumped on the Blue Cheer train, and can’t believe it’s taken me this long to find them out. This is especially mind boggling considering that most of the heavy psychedelic music that I listen to seems to be a direct descendent of Blue Cheer. Oh well, all I can do is make up for lost time and spend the rest of my days rockin’ out.

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* Van Morrison: Astral Weeks (10.5 mb) | Cypress Ave (10.5 mb)
From Astral Weeks : Warner Bros. Records : 1768-2

I wonder what it must feel like to make a total and complete masterpiece.

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For the definitive review on Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks, read the one by Lester Bangs (look here).