Thursday 30 June 2016

RAWLINSON END REVIEW

http://www.babysue.com/2016-July-LMNOP-Reviews.html#anchor169600


Michael Livesley and Brainwashing House - Sir Henry at Rawlinson End (CD, Gonzo Multimedia, Soundtrack)

You have to hand it to Michael Livesley and his friends for tackling this one. A truly obscure release from the 1970s, Vivian Stanshall's original album (created for John Peel's radio show) has always been controversial. Some people think it's genius while others consider it an odd point in Stanshall's recording career. Whether you like it or hate it, it seems clear that the album was ahead of its time in many ways. Several years back, Livesley decided it was time to recreate the music for an entirely new audience (and those still alive to remember it). Thus, he and his associates took it upon themselves to begin performing the album live. Now, six years later, the show is still going strong and has earned the seal of approval from the Stanshall family. This recording features the talents of Rick Wakeman, Neil Innes, and Susie Honeyman. Fifty-one minutes plus of pure British creativity now available for all to hear, thanks to the tasteful folks at Gonzo Multimedia.

GENRE PEAK REVIEW

Genre Peak: Your Sleekest Engine


Genre Peak is basically songwriter, electronic-percussionist, vocalist, producer Martin Birke and, well whoever have can squeeze into the boot of his car and then only release when they agree to spend some time in his studio. At different points most of Japan turn up (the band, not the country), the late great bassist Mick Karn, Steve Jansen and, also ex-Porcupine Tree, Richard Barbieri contributing. However with Jon Hassell (Brian Eno/Peter Gabriel), Matt Malley (Counting Crows), Charlie Woodward (Falco), Lesley Braden (Fast Arrow) and Palestinian artist Manal Deeb all adding their personalities to the mix, eclecticism – although within a tightish framework – is the name of the game.

That framework plays out as dance, ambient, electro, dub, progressive – allowing not only enough room for the protagonists to play, but also to still give the impression of a 'band' at work. Something that Birke himself must take much of the credit for. Lead single "Fix Me Deeper" gained much notice, its Peter Gabriel like percussion clanks and thwacks creating a stark landscape of jagged edges and smooth sounds. The Barbieri remix that shows up two tracks later adding a surprisingly claustrophobic oriental edge that would be easy to imagine unsettling your senses as Ridley Scott's Bladerunner plays out.

The spoken word contribution from poet Michael Spring, who narrates his "First Born Of The New Millennium" over the song of the same name, brings an early, unsettling Porcupine Tree to mind, his considered, knowing, yet unnervingly calm and threatening tones perfect for adding bite to the electronic percussion and deep, hums of synth. On first listen, it seems like the album's least engaging moment, however after numerous playbacks, it grows into one of the strongest. "Metanoia" (not the Porcupine Tree track of the same name) brings a brighter but no less brooding feel, John Hassell this time Birke's expert collaborator on an expansive yet intricate piece.

There are some vocal tracks on Your Sleekest Engine and while the likes of "God Fearing Man" finds Charlie Woodward giving a seriously good account, I have to say that it's the instrumental selections that feel the freest and most natural. Birke's work hitting harder when your own imagination can fill in the blanks with the 'visuals' and atmospheres you desire.

A modern, yet backward glancing album, Your Sleekest Engine satisfies on many levels and yet at times it just doesn't quite scratch that itch, leaving you seeking that certain illusive little something. That said, electro-buffs will undoubtedly find much to get excited about – although maybe in the most introverted of ways...







Track Listing

1. Nightfalls (feat. Steve Jansen & Lesley Braden)

2. Denizen Darklight

3. Metanoia (feat. Jon Hassell)

4. God Fearing Men (feat. Charlie Woodward)

5. American Civil Rage

6. Fix Me Deeper (feat. Manal Deeb)

7. First Born of the New Millennium (feat. Michael Spring)

8. Fix Me Deeper (Richard Barbieri Mix)

9. The Waiting Station (feat. Charlie Woodward)
Added: June 26th 2016
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score: 
Related Link: Genre Peak online

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
Your Sleekest Engine
CD - £9.99

Redux
CD - £9.99

RAZ REVIEW

http://annecarlini.com/ex_cd.php?id=1953


Title - 'The Best Of Raz'
Artist - The Raz Band
For those not completely in the know, The Raz Band - Michael Raz, Jeff Hutchinson, Joey Molland, Joe Vitale, and Jim Manzo - has been entertaining audiences for over 30 years! In truth, whether you have heard of them or not, they have recorded with some of rock and roll's royalty, along with a fair few unknowns, of course! That all said, The RAZ Band were created a long time ago by leader and founder Michael Rax, and as they were back then, the quintet are, once again here to rock!
Their last album, Madison Park (2015), was The Raz Band's return to form, a brand new, and wonderful collection of music brought together over a few years, and via a few studio's around the Los Angeles area. Following on from the success of that album The Best of Raz is a career spanning new album that takes us through Raz's incredible thirty-two year musical journey.
Featuring songs that harken back to the very beginning with cuts off Raz's critically acclaimed 1984 debut record, Criminals Off The Streets, on through to the aforementioned Madison Park, if you are a fan of The Raz Band, or great, honest, real music in general, this is the album for you.
1. 'The Boy'
2. 'Say Ya Love Me'
3. 'Time Marches On'
4. 'Back in the Shadows'
5. 'Merlyn'
6. 'Down at the Gulf'
7. 'Simon Said'
8. 'The Tattoo Song'
9. 'Tough Love'
10. 'Buck-it'
11. 'Naked on the Floor'
12. 'Sitting on my Bed'
13. 'I Said To My Self: Self'
14. 'Cars and Girls'
15. '$1.50 For Your Love'
16. 'What Love Can Do'
17. 'Searching Forever'
18. 'The Times Together'
19. 'The Boy'
This 19 song CD ​​also ​​includes songs from the albums, The Best of L.A 1987, the RAZ album, 1988, Raz's cassette EP Listen (​produced by Joey Molland)​, ​the ​Tough Love album (produced by​ Joe Vitale), ​the “It's All About Me album (produced by Michael Raz​, ​Jeff Hutchinson, Joe Vitale​ and ​Joey Molland), plus 2 bonus tracks. Recorded live in 1984 at the legendary Los Angeles nightclub, Madame Wong's West​, they are both still rather quite brilliant, for sure.
Having toiled away in the rock and roll vineyard for longer than you might think, the release of The Best of Raz is a collection of 19 tracks that all ooze complete and utter love for their chosen profession. Lead singer Michael Raz described the previous album, Madison Park as"the coolest place to ever grow up," and if that's so, then this collection of their best songs is the coolest soundtrack to your summer, trust me.
Guest performers include Joey Molland (Badfinger), Joe Vitale (Joe Walsh/Crosby, Stills & Nash/The Eagles) Stu Cook, (Creedence Clearwater Revival), Carla Olson and Marc Droubay (Survivor).
www.GonzoMultiMedia.com

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO

The Best of RAZ
CD - £9.99

Madison Park
CD - £9.99

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes: 


"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Tom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?"

WHAT WE DO NOT TALK ABOUT
SMALL WORLD(DEFINED BY EVENTS-
Layers of Crusades,pogroms,massacres
define Pol Pot's Cambodia,Stalin's Ukraine
Turkish Gallipoli,German 's Somme-
update to Tukey's ISIS,Orlando's ISIS
Fallujah,Mosul,Gaza-places defined
via collective punishment.Even sweet Paris
Massacre @the Bataclan.Sacred sites need to be reclaimed-
bodies from wells,Buddhist sculptures remade..
so that we may safely go to cafe and cinemas,
airports and weddings/without being seen
as "soft targets"/"collateral damage"
Reclaim.Re-use.Fields for flowers
not just poppies.Houses for happiness
not just drones.Cafes for laughter.
Our arms are made for hugs and cuddles.
Our world is made for love and laughter

 



THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Erik Norlander - The Galaxy Collectors - Official Video



CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO

The Definitive Edtion/The Galactic Collective
4CD2DVD - £10.99

Live in St. Petersburg
DVD/CD - £9.99

Hommage Symphonique
CD - £9.99

The Galactic Collective Definitive Edition
2CD1DVD - £19.99

The Galactic Collective Live in Gettysburg
2CD1DVD - £19.99

Wednesday 29 June 2016

Captain Beefheart on Late Night with David Letterman (1983)




CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO:

Easy Teeth
CD - £9.99

Pearls Before Swine, Ice Cream For Crows
CD - £7.99

Live at the Country Club, Reseda, California 1981
2CD - £10.99

Live in Cowtown, Kansas City 22nd April 1974
CD - £9.99

Harpo's Detroit Dec 11th 1980
CD - £9.99

Lunar Notes - Zoot Horn Rollo's Captain Beefheart Experience
Book - £9.99

The Animals interview 1983 - Eric Burdon, Chas Chandler, Alan Price

[audio]



CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO:

The Animals And Beyond 
DVD - £7.99

Beat Beat Beat - Eric Burdon
DVD - £4.99

NBC - Frank Zappa Interview Near Death

One of the last Interviews Frank gave before his death. 




CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO:


The Lost Broadcast: The Beat Club '68 (Full Show)
DVD - £10.99

THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Can't Get Enough - Bad Company


THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes: 


"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Tom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?"


"THERE IS NEVER SILENCE"
Always,a tremor.Vibration.Interruption to solitude
Train rattling.Car swooshing.Bicycle wheeling
Even in the darkest cave- batwings/fluttering
And when you import silences,they come with personal histories
Sound and sense fail,so utterances ,chants,moanings in labor
Always we are tied to one another.Drag your chattering cliches
into consenting conversations.Some seek only silences.FAIL!
In Monasteries,by Sacred Sites,in hospitals and hospice
practicing little silences in preparation for The Big Sleep.
Even then,shudder of bones,growth of fingernails
Each wing shudders -bird,bee,butterfly

Silence is invisible.It,too,wants to fly..


Tuesday 28 June 2016

Frank Zappa - Baltimore Interview, August 1985



CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO:

Masked Turnip Cyclophony (Rare and Wonderful Gems from the Pal Studio Archives)
CD - £9.99


Eric Burdon - An Amoeba Interview - 2013




CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO:

The Animals And Beyond 
DVD - £7.99

Beat Beat Beat - Eric Burdon
DVD - £4.99

Leonard Cohen Q&A At 2014 London Popular Problems Preview



CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO:

Bird on a Wire (Special Edition)
DVD - £9.99

Bird On A Wire
DVD - £7.99

THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Golden Earring - Candy's Going Bad


THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes: 

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Tom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?"

"WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT CHOICE"
We have no path but what is beneath our feet
Brexit.Texit.Exit.Relationships sink.Walls break.Fences fall.
Refugees crawl out of war zones into sinking ships.
France is on fire with protests.Greece bankrupt.
Little Britain confused between choices.Tweedledum
and Tweedledee.Her and she .He and he.He and she.
Haircuts are running for highest offices.Who leads?
Personality politics.Europe catches the EXIT fire-
now it is Scotland,Northern Ireland want IN,
while Sweden ,Greece and Italy want OUT.
What a strange dance this is!Barn dance or hokey-pokey.
More like musical chairs,as one option is removed
every new Press Conference(or Reality TV show-
or Comedy Central.THIS IS YOUR LIFE!

(on Indecision..Well?YES?  or ..NO!

Monday 27 June 2016

Rick Wakeman: Ian Anderson interview

A detailed interview about the problems of bookings and agents, back in them days...


Jason Dale Interview with Bob Jackson From Badfinger Sept 2015




THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes: 


"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Tom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?"

DIFFERENT TO (what comes to you
Big data flows in to tiny ports(auras/shakras
Information overload/so selectively/according to
what has been received before.You judge and be judged.
We are all under continuous assessment/review.
YOU'RE FIRED!heard more often than YOU'RE HIRED!
Emotions cloud .Color.Convince us of prejudices
We vote according to our fathers/families/pasts
We change only under duress.Success flickers/falters
finds us indecisive in the starter's stalls.Afraid to change
If it worked before..Can we have another Referendum?

MORE AWAITS TO BE DISCOVERED/UNCOVERED
Like Nibiru.UFOs.Bigfoot."Here Be Monsters"
The truth is still OUT THERE.We just need a bigger telescope.
Measurement is a criterion of itself alone.What cannot yet be seen
changes with tomorrow's headlines/astrology/Weather Channel

QUANTIFICATION IS FOR PRODUCTS
Engineers and measurements.Architects
Only poets ,mad folk,philosophers ask '"BUT..WHY?"

DEMOGRAPHICS IS A SCIENCE
For politics and advertising.You and i
evade data.They seek to capture us
with facial capture,fingerprints,biometrics-
they have yet to read Phillip K Dick

See Spielberg's version of MINORITY REPORT

Hawkwind interview by It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine (2012)

A somewhat chaotic-sounding interview with some members of Hawkwind, a few years ago.

Chaos? ...What? Surely not !




THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Mama Weer All Crazy Now

This track seems like a good one to summarise the first couple of days of the political aftermath of the Brexit vote!



Sunday 26 June 2016

John Etheridge (ex-Hawkwind etc) interviewed by Gordon Giltrap





CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO:

Hawkwind live in London (with John Etheridge guesting):

Space Ritual Live - Special Edition
2DVD/2CD - £29.99

Space Ritual Live 
2CD1DVD - £19.99



Canterbury Scene: A 2009 interview with Steve Hillage & Daevid Allen



CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO

Jon Anderson (Yes) interview 2007




CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO:

Union
DVD - £10.99

Union (2CD)
2CD - £7.99

Rock Of The 70's
DVD - £7.99

The Lost Broadcasts
DVD - £7.99

Rock of the 70s
DVD - £7.99

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem (today, it's Brexit)

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes: 


"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Tom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?"


OVERNIGHT,BRITAIN LEFT EUROPE
THEIR HEAD OF GOVERNMENT RESIGNS

Stock Markets wobble,Currencies decline
"Be careful what you wish for..
Be Glad To Be Alive!
Billionaires run for President
Want to build a wall/to separate
us from those/who used to own this space
Remember Native Americans on Reservations?
(Bernie Sanders went to Pine Ridge-to listen(not to speak
Of his candidacy,not a media squeak!Be Glad to Be!
Mass shootings?We have them daily!Bush Elder resigns from the NRA
Still we have more guns than citizens.Bullets kill us every day..
Even Democrats have to resort to a sit-in(and are adjourned..
BE GLAD!THIS IS THE BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS!
Ask Venezuela,Brazil Zika,Sudan,Yemen,Syria,Iraq,Iran,Afghanistan..
The Dogs of War are rabid.Flames of PTSD are burning..

History?Know Yours!-or start re-learning!

THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Sacred Shinto music and dance (Kagura, Japanese traditional dance)

Being Sunday I always post sacred music. The name of the deity may change, or even the deity Him/Herself but the spirit remains the same

 

Friday 24 June 2016

...BECAUSE SOME OF US THINK THAT THIS STUFF IS IMPORTANT
What happens when you mix what is - arguably - the world's most interesting record company, with an anarchist manic-depressive rock music historian polymath, and a method of dissemination which means that a daily rock-music magazine can be almost instantaneous?

Most of this blog is related in some way to the music, books and films produced by Gonzo Multimedia, but the editor has a grasshopper mind and so also writes about all sorts of cultural issues which interest him, and which he hopes will interest you as well.