DMG Newsletter for January, Friday the 13th 2023

This heart of mine could never see
What everybody knew but me
Just trustin' you, was my great sin
What can I do? You win again

I'm sorry for, you're victim now
'Cause soon his head like mine will bow
He'll give his heart but all in vain
And someday say, "You win again"

You have no heart, you have no shame
You take true love and give the blame
I guess that I should not complain
I love you still, you win again

The above song, “You Win Again”, first appeared on a Hank Williams LP called ‘Memorial Album’, which was released in 1953, the same year that Mr. Williams died. I hadn’t heard the original version until recently. The Dead started to play this song live sometime in 1971 so and I’ve heard several versions by them, all of which I like. Jerry Garcia’s world-weary voice sounds perfect for this tear-jerkin’ country standard. Before the Warlocks turned into the Dead in 1965, Mr. Garcia (and probably Bob Weir) started out playing bluegrass, country and folk songs. Their main lead singer Pigpen (a/k/a Ron McKernan) was a blues aficionado, who sang, played bluesharp & organ, adding some grit & grease to their songs. By 1967 when their first album was released, the Dead had morphed into a full-fledged psychedelic/blues/rock band, doing long psych jams that still sound fresh today, more than a half century later. During and especially after their Psychedelic phase (1966-1969), the started to play a number of country & bluegrass standards like “El Paso”, “Deep Ellum Blues”, “Me & My Uncle” (a great folk song written by Papa John Phillips) and “You Win Again”. The Dead also covered quite a bit of popular & obscure blues, R&B & soul songs: “Smokestack Lightnin”, “Midnight Hour”, “Dancing in the Streets”, “Turn on Your Lovelights” and “Ain’t It Crazy” (check out this hilarious song!).

I listened to Hank Williams’ original version of “You Win Again” which I do like. However, I’ve got to admit that Jerry Garcia’s version (from 1971) I dig even more as Jerry really puts his heart and soul into singing it. I love the way Jerry’s stretches out his voice (a staple in great country songs) in this song. I sing along and stretch out my voice as well whenever I listen, sipping on some wine or good beer late at night before hitting the sack. Over the past year, I’ve lost touch with my former best friend Jason (good riddance), my ex-fiancé (very sad) and a right-wing MAGA zombie from my hometown named Edel (totally bad news!). Hence, my heart has been achin’ and I do feel somewhat stressed about the future of the store and the fate of my big collection at home. The funny thing is this: I still feel great working at the store, dealing with customers, friends and my employees, going to gigs and sharing in a serious listening environment time and again. Thanks again to all of the well-wishers out there who continue to support us and send us your inspiration. YOU know who loves you still, Me! Bruce Lee at DMG

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THE DMG 32nd ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION / IN-STORE SERIES CONTINUES with:

Saturday, January 14th - GauciMusic Series Continues with:
6pm Brandon Terzakis - drums / Dan O'Brien - woodwinds / Aidan O’Connell - bass
7pm Stephen Gauci - tenor sax / Kuba Cichocki - keyboards / Kevin Shea - drums
8pm Ron Anderson - guitar / Tete Leguia - bass / James Paul Nadien - drums

Tuesday, January 17th:
6:30 - 9pm: MARC SLOAN Presents RITUAL TENSION & DIVINE BONE COLLECTION!
With NORMAN WESTBERG (from THE SWANS) opening the activities & other guests!

Tuesday, January 24th:
6:30: ROB PRICE / ED PRICE / CLAIRE DALY - Guitar / Bass Clarinet / Baritone Sax
7:30: FLIP CITY: DAVID AARON / WILL McEVOY / DAVID GOULD

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SPOTLIGHT ON DR. EUGENE CHADBOURNE:

JOHN ZORN // EUGENE CHADBOURNE- John Zorn's Olympiad - Vol. 3 Pops Plays Pops - Eugene Chadbourne Plays The Book Of Heads (Tzadik 8395; USA) “Composed in 1976 and studied by guitarists the world over, The Book of Heads is one of Zorn’s most popular and oft-performed compositions. Concentrated into 35 "heads" that can be used as jumping off points for improvisation, the score uses an hermetic language of meticulously notated sounds inspired by contemporary classical extended techniques, cartoons, film noir, Zen philosophy, and the idiosyncratic guitar languages of free improvisation via Chadbourne, Frith, Bailey et al. Interpreted here by the madcap virtuoso they were originally created for: Eugene Chadbourne, they receive a passionate and creative interpretation—looser, wilder and more open than the textbook readings of James Moore and Marc Ribot. Vexingly entertaining, this curious release contains fifteen of the original 35 études: sixty minutes of the most gonzo music ever created for solo guitar!” - Tzadik blurb
I first John Zorn and Eugene Chadbourne live in duos with Fred Frith and with each other starting in December of 1979 and early 1980. Considering that I was a big jazz and prog snob, I wasn't sure what to make of them and couldn't quite take them seriously in the early days. Thanks to Fred Frith (who soon claimed that Zorn's games pieces were the work of a genius) and a old couple I met at Studio Henry named Irving & Stephanie Stone, who told me that they had heard Zorn & Chadbourne open for David Murray the previous year and thought that what Zorn & Chadbourne were doing was much more interesting than David Murray, I was soon won over and have been both a fan-addict and friend with this dynamic duo ever since. The 'Book of Heads' was written by Mr. Zorn in 1976, several years before I met these two mavericks and captures the unique sounds/approach/music that Chadbourne was creating on the guitar. Now (Dec of 2022), more than forty years later, this music makes more sense to me. Odd sounds that I used to giggle about are not so funny as they are an integral part of the music here, a new vocabulary for experimental guitarists and composers everywhere. This version of the "Book of Heads" was recorded in 2007 and 2008 at the Campo Cultural Center on Bond Street, across the street from where the great loft space, Studio Rivbea was and around the corner from where our second store was located on the Bowery. Mr. Zorn is the producer here and the sound is extraordinary, better than most of what Doc Chadbourne has released on his own Chadula label, hence we can hear these pieces in all of their distinctive glory. Don't get me wrong, I dig most of what Doc Chadbourne releases on his label but Mr. Zorn is better at editing and Mr. Chadbourne often get carried away and leaves in practically everything. Similar to John Zorn's early solo sax & clarinet mouthpieces & game calls record, 'The Classic Guide to Strategy', this disc also captures Eugene Chadbourne creating his own sonic world on guitars. Sonic explorers and scientists in the future will look back to these recordings and wonder why these two pioneers had discovered the future of music so many years before anyone else did. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $16

EUGENE CHADBOURNE with BRIAN RITCHIE / WARREN SMITH / BUNK GARDNER / DAN PLONSEY / GINO ROBAIR / TED REICHMAN / BARRY MITTERHOF / CHARLES WATERS / SCOTT MANRING / et al - Mourning of the Praying Mantis / Worms with Strings (Feeding Tube Records 641; USA) During the Great Pandemic of 2021, many of us spent time at home going through our collections, seeing what we actually have and checking out things we’ve discovered. Downtown, Post-Modern, Impossible to Pigeonhole guitarist/banjoist, Eugene Chadbourne, told me he found all kinds of tapes of old gigs & recordings that he had forgotten about. For this record, Dr. Chadbourne (as he calls himself) has compiled several sessions employing some 20 musicians, many of whom I know and some I don’t know. Some of the more well known players include: Brian Ritchie (from the Violent Femmes), Bunk Garner (the Mothers of Invention), Gino Robair (Splatter Trio), Charles Waters (Gold Sparkle), Barry Mitterhof (bluegrass mandolin great), Ted Reichman (Braxton collaborator) and Warren Smith (out-jazz & session drummer for more than a 1/2 century).
Things begin with some solo banjo with other stringed instruments slowly entering. At times it sounds like Doc Chad is playing slide or manipulating the sound of his banjo. Liner notes say the musicians are listed in the order appearance but it is hard to tell who is doing what at times. Doc Chad likes to cut & paste from different sources so one thing often morphs into other things. Side A starts with Doc on banjo, Carrie Shull on oboe, Brian Ritchie on bass and Warren Smith on marimba. The piece is laid back and dreamy, sort of Sun Ra-like somber space music. Side B has several groupings. Always good to hear from an old friend named Misha Feigin who plays balalaika with the Doc for a short bit. I hadn’t heard from another old friend, Tom Heasley, tuba player from L.A. but he is on a track here as well, playing those old school basslines on his trusty tuba. What is interesting is this, each of these sessions was recorded with different players in different places and at different times yet it is Dr. Chadbourne’s banjo which is central to what is going on since it is on each piece. As odd as this is, it does sound like a suite of sorts. It flows nicely from segment to segment in a continuous flow. Most of these pieces sound live so the sound/tone/texture/timbre of Doc Chad’s two banjos sound different on each part. It is interesting that another old Chadbourne collaborator named Scott Manring finishes out the second side playing lap steel. The last time we heard from Mr. Manring was when he appeared on an early Chad solo effort called, ‘There’ll Be No Tears Tonight’ from 1982, forty years ago as of last year?!? Eugene Chadbourne’s unique way of providing a kaleidoscopic view by editing things seamlessly takes some time to get used to but it is well done overall. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
LP Sale $17

EUGENE CHADBOURNE - What’s Been Baking (Ramble Records 0050; Australia) Ramble Records is based in Melbourne, Australia and is both a record label and distribution service. They appear to specialize in many of the same genres that DMG also stocks: jazz/ improvised, experimental/avant-garde, post-punk, psych, American primitive guitar music & outsider music. The label recently released CD’s & LP’s from Henry Kaiser, Ross Hammond, Bill Orcut and Eugene Chadbourne. They carry a book about avant jazz in Germany, 1950-1975 that I would love to get my hands on. This albums sounds like it was recorded in a regular studio, hence it has good, warm, clean sound and it is in stereo. It is a solo album with Dr. Chadbourne on acoustic (?) guitar and voice. On the opener,“Don’t Be Shreevish”, Doc Chad hums along quietly out loud in between singing the chorus and playing some great frenetic guitar. On “Hidden Away” Doc Chad has unique way of singing and playing his banjo (here) which has a forlorn, well-worn sound that I find both charming and somewhat sad. There is a restrained, spacious, lingering quality to Chad’s banjo playing which makes him sound older than he really is, like a wizened elder like Doc Boggs. Chad sounds like he playing a 12-string acoustic guitar on “Eventually”, another solemn, touching piece. This song reminds of Tim Buckley, a great singer/songwriter and tragic figure. The title track starts off Side B, it discusses baking with other solemn observations of life. The words and voice here are like a lament for another time. It sounds as if Doc Chadbourne is lost at sea on raft, floating on calm waves, waiting for something to happen, his/our journey a most existential one. Chad often uses some minimal reverb to keep things off balance, caressing certain notes to let them sting or float into the distance. It sounds as if Eugene is going through a phase/haze, just stinging a few notes here and there for us fellow sailors to hold on to instead of drowning. It is completely grey and drizzling out today (1/11/23) and it fits this album perfectly. Time to drown in my own tears. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
LP Sale $17

EUGENE CHADBOURNE / DAVID LICHT / DAVID MENESTRES / DAN BLACKSBURG - In Memory of a Memory (Chadula; USA) Personnel: Eugene Chadbourne on guitar & banjo, Dan Blaksburg on trombone, David Menestres on bass and David Licht on drums. Recorded in a backyard on September 11 of 2022. Eugene “Dr.” Chadbourne just sent us 2 new LP’s and 5 new unreleased CD’s. The last time that Doc Chadbourne was in town, several months ago in the Fall of 2022, he played four night at The Stone and several nights at PIT (Property is Theft) in Brooklyn. I caught and thoroughly enjoyed the gigs at The Stone. Accompanying him at The Stone was a revolving cast of players which included Jim McHugh, Jeb Bishop, David Menestres and David Licht. I believe that this disc was recorded that week. You all should know about drummer David Licht who used to play in Shockabilly (w/ Chad & Kramer) in the mid-1980’s and then with the Klezmatics. Aside from his work with Doc Chad, bassist David Menestres has worked with Frank Gratkowski and Dave Fox. I can’t tell you much about trombonist Dan Blacksburg although he has recorded with Nick Millevoi, Deveykus (CD on Tzadik) and the Tri Centric Orchestra.
The set here was recorded outdoors so the sound is lowkey with a minimal PA. Doc Chad chooses both several cool covers and a few originals. Trombonist Dan Blacksburg is a good match for Doc Chad, interweaving his lines quickly with Chad swinging, fun grooves/lines. The quartet do an over-the -top version of Jimi Hendrix’s “Are You Experienced?” with a crazed guitar solo and smoking trombone on top. The title song, “In Memory of a Memory” is an original I think and it is a charming ballad, quite touching. Who but Doc Chad would cover Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women”, somewhat psychedelicized and then go into Todd Rundgren’s “Hello It’s Me”?!? (corny yet cool). And then it morphs into John Coltrane’s “Dear Lord”, which is laid back and dreamy. Chad sounds like he is playing a 12-string acoustic with a pick-up on it at times, his solos a nimble, often exquisite and hypnotic. One of the songs that Chad has been playing in recent times is Hendrix’s “May This Be Love”, which he does here and which does well, laid-back psych coolness complete with a guitar distorto guitar solo. Although the sound here is not studio quality, the playing is consistently inspired and the sound is good enough to evoke the odd yet compelling magic that Eugene Chadbourne most often pulls off. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $13


SPOTLIGHT ON SUSIE IBARRA:

SUSIE IBARRA / MAKOTO FUJIMURA with JENNIFER CHOI / YUKA C. HONDA / CLAUDIA ACUNA / YVES DHARAMRAJ / JAKE LANDAU - Walking on Water (Innova / CultureCare IAMCCC 01; USA) Featuring Susie Ibarra on drumset, percussion, field recordings & compositions, Makoto Fujimura - paintings & inspiration, Jennifer Choi on violin, Yves Dharamraj on cello, Claudia Acuna on voice, Jake Landau on guitars, synth & Hammond organ & Yuka C. Honda on electronics. The ‘Walking on Water’ images started as Makoto Fujimura’s elegy to the victims of the Tohoku Great Earthquake and Tsunami which took place on March 11th of 2011. Former Downtown drummer supreme, Susie Ibarra, (currently teaching at Bennington College) composed 11 spirituals to accompany Mr. Fujimura’s paintings. A series of field recordings of water from the Himalayas were used with the help of climate scientist & geographer Michele Koppes. I recognize a few of the musicians here from previous adventures: classical trained violinist, Jenny Choi, has worked with Ms. Ibarra on several recordings as well as with Erik Friedlander & John Zorn. Yuka Honda used to be in the Downtown oddball pop duo Cibo Matto and also a number of other Downtown collaborators: Nels Cline (her husband), Dave Dougals & many others. Chilean born singer/songwriter, Claudia Acuña, has been living in NYC since 1995 and working with Arturo O’Farrill & Kenny Wollesen.
The first piece is called, “Elegy in Azurite” and it has an angelic, floating sound with soft exquisite vocal sounds by Claudia Acuna. The overall vibe is rather prayer-like and quietly haunting. Ms. Ibarra’s percussion has a distinctive, lush, organic sound and is featured on a few of these pieces. The electronics and/or synth often enhances Ms. Ibarra’s exquisite, careful playing. Jake Landau’s tasty guitar, Yves Dharamraj’s cello and Jenny Choi’s violin sound wonderful on “Coastal Birds”, precious and casting a magical spell. Most of the 13 pieces are short yet each one captures a certain ethereal vibe. I love the sounds of the water and occasional birds or other nature sounds here, adding to the ongoing organic flow. After three sets of more aggressive free & progressive out jazz at the store last night (1/10/23), it feels so good to hear some more melodic, even tender at times music like this with Mother Nature’s natural sounds flowing through. The sounds of the Himalayan water are well-recorded and most enchanting to hear. Listening to this album right after breakfast today was a perfect way to start my day. I feel refreshed and calm. Thanks to Sussie Ibarra’s DreamTime Ensemble for casting their spell on us all who are listening. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
LP $25 [Limited edition]

SUSIE IBARRA & TASHI DORJI - Master of Time (Astral Spirits 177; USA) Featuring Susie Ibarra on drums & percussion and Tashi Dorji on guitar. Recorded live at the Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College in April of 2019. A few weeks ago, I caught percussionist, Susie Ibarra, playing with Mephista at The Stone (7/8/22) with Ned Rothenberg sitting in. The set was extraordinary and I realized that I hadn’t heard Ms. Ibarra play live in several years. As far being a percussionist/bandleader/composer, Ms. Ibarra is in a class of her own, no-one plays like her. Ms. Ibarra has been teaching at Bennington for several years and doesn’t play in NYC very often nowadays. Our loss. Although Ms. Ibarra has worked with a wide variety of eclectic musicians: John Zorn, Derek Bailey, David S Ware Qt, she rarely performs with musicians from the noisy or extreme side of free/improv. Which brings us to this duo with guitarist Tashi Dorji. Mr. Dorji hails from down south and has worked with Dave Rempis, Mette Rasmussen and Eivind Kang, as well as doing a few solo guitar efforts. Hence, I wasn’t so sure how this duo would work together. The session here was recorded at the Tang Teaching Museum for an exhibition of ‘Bardo Now, The Second Buddha: Master of Time’. The music is superbly recorded: clean, warm, clear, well-balanced. The duo take their time and start off with careful, sparse sounds. Things organically build as the duo combine forces. Mr. Dorji is an impressive improvising guitarist who doesn’t sound like anyone else. I have heard him play more noisy or extreme with others but here he works well with Ms. Ibarra, who is a mature, thoughtful and endless inventive percussionist. Even when things do get a bit noisy, there is still some magic/glue that holds this music together. An excellent album, all around. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
LP $18

SUSIE IBARRA with CLAIRE CHASE / ALEX PEH - Talking Gong (New Focus Recordings 271; USA) Composer and percussionist Susie Ibarra releases a portrait album featuring solos, duets and trios with her new trio. Talking Gong with Claire Chase and Alex Peh will release in digital and limited edition vinyl formats. Ibarra's work melds influences from her Filipina heritage with her uniquely virtuosic approach to the drum set and sound collage. Susie Ibarra is a Filipina-American composer, percussionist, and sound artist. Her sound has been described as “a sound like no other’s, incorporating the unique percussion and musical approach of her Filipino heritage with her flowing jazz drumset style” (Modern Drummer Magazine) and her compositions are sometimes described as “calling up the movements of the human body; elsewhere it’s a landscape vanishing in the last light, or the path a waterway might trace” (New York Times). Recent commissions include Kronos String Quartet’s 50 for the Future Project Pulsation, PRISM Saxophone Quartet Percussion’s Procession Along the Aciga Tree, Talking Gong trio with pianist Alex Peh and flautist Claire Chase, film score When the Storm Fades directed by Sean Devlin, and a multimedia game piece Fragility: An Exploration of Polyrhythms for Asia Society.”
LP $20 [Limited Edition]

SUSIE IBARRA DREAMTIME ENSEMBLE With: JENNIFER CHOI / JAKE LANDAU / YVES DHARAMRAJ / JEAN-LUC SINCLAIR / CLAUDIA ACUNA - Perception (Decibel Collective 0001; USA) Featuring Jennifer Choi on violin, Yves Dharamraj on cello, Jake Landau on piano & guitar, Jean-Luc Sinclair on electronics, Claudia Acuna on vocals and Susie Ibarra on drums, percussion & compositions. Since becoming an integral part of ever-evolving Downtown Scene in the mid-nineties, Susie Ibarra has become the quintessential Downtown drummer, composer, collaborator and composer, bridging many diverse musical worlds. Check out this list of collaborators: John Zorn, Derek Bailey, Mephista (Ikue Mori & Sylvie Courvoiser), David S. Ware, Wadada Leo Smith & Joelle Leandre. Ms. Ibarra has been teaching at Bennington College since 2016 and is currently on tour with Dave Douglas and Marc Ribot in Europe. Ms. Ibarra has around a half dozen discs as a leader, each one very different. Since becoming a mother, teaching, touring and collaborating takes up so much Mr. Ibarra’s time, this disc is her first in a few years. The Dreamtime Ensemble features violinist Jennifer Choi, who has worked with Ms. Ibarra on a previous disc for Tzadik. The other members of this sextet are new names for me. Ms. Ibarra has long studied percussion in many of its diverse forms, from different cultures, jazz, both free and fixed. Playing gamelan is only one of her specialties. The music on ‘Perception’ seems to be in between different genres. Ms. Ibarra’s subtle yet infectious percussion is often at the center of the music here. “Alegria” has a dreamy vibe, with angelic wordless vocals by Claudia Acuna. “The Uncertainty Principle” seems like an appropriate title for a three part suite since it is hard to pin down the way things unfold. Intricate guitar and violin lines softly swirl around one another in a dream-like way. Ms. Ibarra’s sublime tuned percussion is featured on “Part 3”, which is delicate and hypnotic. I dig the way Ms. Ibarra of tens strips things down to their bare essentials, skeletal yet still evoking exquisite, magical organic spirits. On “Sensing Light” there seems to be a series of drones created by bowed or rubbed percussion (gongs or cymbals perhaps), the effect is most mesmerizing. The first time I listened to this disc at the store, I thought that there might be something missing but now that I am at home and not distracted, I realize that Ms. Ibarra has worked some wonderful, elegant and carefully crafted magic into the tapestry. The music breathes and feels like some fresh air on the first day of Spring. A superb gem from Ms. Susie Ibarra. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15 / LP $25 [both are limited edition]


DEREK BAILEY / CHARLIE MORROW with MICHAEL SNOW / GLEN VELEZ / STEVE McCAFFERY / CAROL E. TUYNMAN / PATRICIA BURGESS - New York 1982 (Recital 099LP; USA) Recital publish an album of lost Derek Bailey sessions recorded with his friend and collaborator Charlie Morrow. In 1982, Bailey and Morrow organized a series of live concerts and studio sessions around New York. This new LP is a boiled-down rendering of the master tapes that lived dormant in Charlie's archive, until now. Throughout the album, Bailey and Morrow are joined by a rotating cast of New Wilderness players including frame drum percussionist Glen Velez, sound poet Steve McCaffery, publisher and artist Carol E. Tuynman, composer Patricia Burgess, and multimedia artist Michael Snow. The results are surprising and marvelous. The energy of the live concert, which makes up the first half of the record is particularly exciting, with Morrow and McCaffery's visceral sound poetry and Glen's frame drum echoing off of Derek's fret stabs, and Carol, Patricia, and Michael's horns swirling through the air between. A very raw and intense recording. The second side of New York 1982, is a session recorded at The Record Plant, and is clearly more "produced" with panning and tape echo processing, plus experiments with water whistles and other devices. Derek Bailey stands out for personal achievements as a guitarist and for his way of bringing together performance meetings ranging from duos to large ensembles. Working across style and genre, his music and musical unions have inspired the breakdown of boundaries, embracing all flavors of musicians as improvisers. Players focusing on the moment, "without memory." Personnel: Derek Bailey - acoustic guitars; Charlie Morrow - trumpet, ocarina, voice; Glen Velez - percussion; Patricia Burgess - saxophone; Steve McCaffery - voice, saxophone; Carol E. Tuynman - trumpet; Michael Snow - trumpet. Includes eight-page booklet with program notes and artwork; edition of 400.”
LP $30

* MARC SLOAN with KNOX CHANDLER / MARK C / NORMAN WESTBERG / RB KORBET / MICHAEL SHOCKLEY / JIM FOURNIADIS - Divine Bone Collection (Lascaux Easton 002; Earth) Marc Sloan was the brutal electric bassist who played in the great NY post-punk band Ritual Tension as well as with Elliott Sharp’s Carbon in the 1980’s and the False Prophets. During the mid-to-late 1980’s, NYC had a deluge of great bands that were guitar-oriented like Sonic Youth, the Swans, Live Skull, Glenn Branca, Band of Susans, Rhys Chatham, Carbon and Ritual Tension. I caught both of the last two named bands on several occasions and was knocked out on each one. Marc Sloan has continued to work on solo projects as well as in his own band Gawk and is still creating challenging music to this day. This LP is a collection of assorted projects with a variety of collaborators like: guitarists Knox Chandler (Psychedelic Furs), Mark C (Live Skull) & Norman Westberg (Swans), Jim Fourniadis (Rats of Unusual Sizes), RB Korbet (Bush Tetras) and Michael Shockley (Ritual Tension). For this album, Mr. Sloan plays bass, classical guitar, drums & drumsynth, sampler, arranging, producing and songs. This is the second release from Sloan’s Divine Bones, the first one was released in 2019.
“Collagen” opens with Knox Chandler’s guitar and Marc Sloan on el. bass & drum/synth. It has a powerful, throbbing sound, turgid, rocking hard and is filled with tension. Sloan seems to be sampling several sources, hard to tell exactly what. The great Knox Chandler has a great, dark, swirling, psych-like sound. “Lazarus” sounds like an updated version of Velvet Underground or Lou Reed with strong, compelling vocals by Mr. Sloan. “A Life Supreme” rocks hard with some slippery, throbbing bass and awesome, dark guitar(s) by Mark C from Live Skull (perhaps my fave of the brutal guitar bands from that era). “Already in Heaven” has a great, hypnotic, repeating riff with Sloan’s sly voice and a lyric tale that is well worth thinking about, sort-of Dylanish (by way of Mott) in its own way. Bravo! Side B starts with “Marrow Deep” which features guitarist Norman Westberg (from the Swans). This piece has an immense, slow, sludge-like grace that reminds me of all of those scary mid-eighties throb-rockers like Scornflakes, Carbon or early Swans (but not as dark). “SiqOvlt” also pounds out powerfully and is held together by Ritual Tension’s Michael Shockley on drums, depressing yet apt lyrics and howling fuzz bass on top. The final song featuring the words to Gil Scot Heron’s “Whitey on the Moon” with music by Mr. Sloan. Although the vocals by Sloan are rap-like, the music has another throbbing, hard-rocking, pungent groove at the center with wailing guitars by Jim Fourniadis. Although I haven’t heard much music like this in several decades, it still sounds familiar to me due to the dark times we are still dealing with which pound on us oft mellow folks just trying to survive. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
LP $25 [comes with a great poster & enclosed liner notes]
* DMG will host an album release celebration at the store on Tuesday, January 17th at 6:30 with live music by Marc Sloan, Norman Westberg and other associates

HAMID DRAKE & INGRID SCHMOLLER - Awon Ona (Klanggalerie GG376; Germany) Hamid Drake is an American jazz drummer and percussionist. By the close of the 1990s, Hamid Drake was widely regarded as one of the best percussionists in jazz and improvised music. Incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian, and African percussion instruments and influence, in addition to using the standard trap set, Drake has collaborated extensively with top free jazz improvisers. Amongst many others he has worked with trumpeter Don Cherry, pianist Herbie Hancock, saxophonists Pharaoh Sanders, Fred Anderson and Archie Shepp. The Austrian musician, composer and pedagogue Ingrid Schmoliner performs in various international and interdisciplinary projects. She is founder of the Raum 4 concert series and curates the New Adits Festival for Contemporary Music in Carinthia, Austria. Schmoliner distinctively expands the tonal language of current avant-garde music with her striking piano preparations and the multilayered combinations of her compositional patterns. She is at home equally in minimal music and in improvised jazz. The duo played several festivals together, amongst them Artacts in Tyrol, Austria and Jazz Cerkno in Slovenia. These two concerts were recorded and mastered for this release on double CD. Two masters of their craft generating something unique.”
2 CD Set $22

JOHNNY BUTLER - The Sunbather (Hi4Head Records 037; UK) Featuring Johnny Butler on solo tenor sax with devices, performed live with no overdubs or post-editing. A couple of years ago, I met Nick who runs UK-based Hi4Head label at The Stone and he introduced me to fellow Brit Johnny Butler who plays sax. I had a cancellation for the following Sunday in our ongoing in-store series and asked Johnny if he wanted to play that night. He accepted and played a solo sax set at DMG with two dancers accompanying him. The set was a rare revelation and worked out fine, the dancers adding much to Mr. Butler’s fine sax playing. I reviewed a solo sax by Mr. Butler which I remember liking and recently got a new solo sax effort in the mail from Hi4Head. Nine of the eleven songs were written for dance pieces in 2021. The other pieces were written for two films.
“Joker Family Reunion” opens with a great series of repeating sax licks which are chopped up with an echo-plex device. This sounds more like a studio effort since all of the parts are so well recorded and fit together like a well-integrated puzzle. Butler has several repeating lines all interwoven in a tight, hypnotic tapestry. On “the title track, Butler puts his sax through a dense distortion device giving it a dense, somewhat scary sound, like a monster coming up from the swamp. On each piece, Mr. Butler manilutes he sax with different devices, hence his sound is evolving throughout. He also likes to play some melodic, majestic lines which make this disc warm and friendly but not too weird but most enchanting. I played this disc in the store earlier this week (January of 2023) and several folks remarked how much they liked it. That doesn’t happen very often. Johnny Butler will be playing here in a few weeks (on Jan 31st at 7:30), so I look forward to that set immensely. Until then, you should check this disc out as it is superb. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14

REGULAR MUSIC with ANDREW POPPY / JEREMY PEYTON JONES / HELEN OTTAWAY / CHARLES HAYWARD / et al - Regular Music (Klanggalerie GG313; Germany) Regular Music were early instigators of the UK post-systems movement whose work straddles the spheres of rock, minimalism and post-punk. The band was formed in 1980 by composer/performers Helen Ottaway, Jeremy Peyton Jones and Andrew Poppy who met at Goldsmiths College in SE London where they studied music in the 1970s. Rather than wait for commissions they looked to models such as Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Gavin Bryars and Michael Nyman who formed their own ensembles to play their music. The first Regular Music concerts took place at the ACME Gallery in Covent Garden on 20 and 21 June 1980. On the programme were works by Poppy and Peyton Jones as well as works by Morton Feldman, English Experimental composer John Lewis, Phillip Glass and Maurizio Kagel. Other gigs followed at theatres and art galleries in London and Nottingham, and then in 1982 Poppy left the band and joined The Lost Jockey, a larger band with a similar ethos, and Regular Music were joined by composer/pianist Jonathan Parry. By now they were performing music written exclusively by band members. In a significant move the band was joined in 1983 by rock drummer Charles Hayward, electric guitarist Bron Szerszynski and vocalist Mary Phillips and settled into its eventual amplified line-up of saxes, tuba, voice, keyboards, strings, drums and guitar found on this album. In 1984 they were approached by Geoff Travis at Rough Trade to make this album. Performances in 1985 included The Bloomsbury Festival, the Almeida Theatre and Musique de Traverse in Reims. The band's final performance was at the first MIMI festival in St Remy de Provence in July 1986. Following a period of writing new material the band was relaunched by Peyton Jones as Regular Music II in 1991 with a similar lineup plus the addition of singers Melanie Pappenheim, Sarah Stowe, Mike Henry and Lindsay Benson. First time ever on CD!”
CD $18

AMY DENIO - Eureka (Klanggalerie GG315; Germany) Amy Denio is a Seattle-based multi-instrumental composer of soundtracks for modern dance, film and theater, as well as a songwriter and music improviser. Often called an unclassifiable avant-garde jazz musician, her main instruments are voice, alto saxophone, clarinet, accordion, acoustic and electric guitars, electric bass, and theremin. Among her current musical involvements are The Tiptons Sax Quartet (formerly The Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet) and Die Resonanz Stanonczi, a radical folk group based in Salzburg, Austria. She has also collaborated repeatedly with the Pat Graney Dance Company, David Dorfman Dance Company, Victoria Marks, and with many other choreographers. Her first recording was No Bones released as a cassette on her record label Spoot Music in 1986. Her first LP was with the Entropics. She founded Tiptons in 1987, and also started Tone Dogs with bassist Fred Chalenor. Tone Dogs' first release Ankety Low Day was nominated for a Grammy Award. She has performed and recorded with (among others) Matt Cameron, KMFDM, Curlew, Fred Frith, Pointless Orchestra, Francisco López, Danny Barnes, Pale Nudes, The Danubians, Chris Cutler, Guy Klucevsek, Pauline Oliveros, Derek Bailey, Chuck D, Bill Rieflin and Die Knoedel. Her new album Eureka consists of songs of various stlyes, some were written during a tour of the Balkans. Amy says the songs wrote themselves, she was merely the vessel. Other tracks are commissioned pieces, some for the cinema, one for a Patreon subscriber who requested a steamy love song connected to Iceland. As varied as the themes are, the music is even more varied. Amy Denio is a musician who cannot be labelled and put into one category.”
CD $18

ARCHIVAL & HISTORIC DISCS, REISSUES & RESTOCKED ITEMS:

OST-KRAUT! - Progressives Aus Den DDR-Archiven (1976-1982), Vol. 2 (Bear Family Records 17627; Germany) “OST-KRAUT: A two-volume double CD series - the long overdue complement to our KRAUT! edition - comprehensively documents the history of progressive rock in the GDR for the first time with studio and live recordings! PLEASE NOTE: liner notes in German -Progressive rock from the German Democratic Republic! Never before has the GDR scene been so extensively honored with studio and live recordings. -Bear Family Records® documents what was happening in GDR rock away from the mainstream by means of well-known rarities and some never before released on record. -'Progressives from GDR Archives' collects on a total of four CDs the cream of the rock scene of the GDR and socialist foreign countries at that time with recordings for AMIGA and the German Radio Archive (DRA). -The tracks on this second and final installment were recorded between 1976 and 1982 and were stylishly compiled by journalist and East rock connoisseur Marcus Heumann. -Recordings by the Stern-Combo Meissen, City, electra or Lift are just some of the many highlights of this double CD. -The 76-page booklet with numerous illustrations, photos and biographies of the bands and musicians vividly reflects the history of progressive rock in the GDR. -Also available: Ost-Kraut! Part 1 - Progressive Food from GDR Archives 1970-1975 (BCD17625). After the tremendous success of the four-volume edition 'KRAUT! The innovative years of Krautrock 1968 -1979' on Bear Family Records®, it was obvious to also honor progressive music from the former GDR for the first time in a similarly elaborately designed, two-part CD edition! While the first volume covers the history of progressive rock music in the GDR between 1970 and 1975, the second part deals with the period from 1976 to 1982.”
2 CD Set $28

WALLENSTEIN - Blitzkrieg (Pilz 290642CD; Germany) “In 1971, under the direction of Jürgen Dollase, who also composed all the tracks, this album was recorded and finally released in 1972. It was recorded at Dierks Studios by Dieter Dierks himself. Dollase and drummer Harald Grosskopf were later also members of the legendary Cosmic Jokers. Loyal krautrock fans labelled this album as progressive rock -- but that doesn't really do justice. Opulent, lengthy works like "Lunetic" with a playing time of 12 minutes are today among the highlights of what is summarized as krautrock. Transferred from the original analog tapes and carefully remastered without destroying the character of the recordings.”
CD $16

MICHAEL RANTA - Yuen Shan (Metaphon 006CD; Belgium) “2015 release. 16 track composition for pre-recorded sounds and live percussion performed by Michael Ranta. Entirely different work from the Yüen Shan CD released in 2005 on Ms Classic. All material previously unreleased. Yuen Shan ("Round Mountain" in Chinese) was conceived in 1972 and finalized in 2014. A musical cosmogony in four movements expressing different stages and cycles in life, The Ritual of Life. A major work in Ranta's oeuvre. Includes 12-page booklet in gatefold cardboard sleeve.”
CD $16

MICHAEL RANTA - Taiwan Years (Metaphon 009CD; Belgium) 2021 release. More than any other of Michael Ranta's releases, this album shows his multiple roots and ideas as a composer, percussionist, and concrete/electronic musician, building a seamless bridge between Eastern and Western avant-garde. Ranta is one of those rare composers able to organically melt his wide artistic span into a singular but yet diverse universe morphing his rich vocabulary as a percussionist with the Oriental esoteric tradition, the psychedelic underground, and the realm of electronic minimalism. Michael Ranta: performance and mixing; Recording engineers: Shigeru Sato, Tsutomu Kojima; Mastered by EARLabs; Painting: Wayne Jacob Production: Timo van Luijk; Design: Meeuw. 12-page booklet in gatefold cardboard sleeve.”
CD $18

CRYSTALLINE - Axe Music (Guerssen Records 070CD; Spain) First reissued by Guerssen Records in 2012 and out of print for many years, here's a new, improved repress of this UK psych holy grail. Axe (known also as Axe Music and finally Crystalline by the time they recorded their rare acetate) were an obscure British psych band led by acid-rock guitar player extraordinaire Tony Barford and graced by Vivienne Jones ethereal vocals. The band hailed from Northampton (home also of their mates Dark of Dark Round The Edges fame). In 1970, they recorded a demo album of which only 12 copies were pressed as a demo acetate. Here's a straight reissue of this legendary artifact, as the previous "reissue" on the Kissing Spell label from 1993 and credited to Axe was altered without the band consent and included newly edited tracks, artificial echo/phasing effects, altered song titles... Here you'll find the acetate recording on its pure form: 100% unadulterated heavy psych and acid-rock sounds full of raw, fuzzed-out guitars and dreamy female vocals. Four impressive original songs plus a long, psyched to the max cover of Love's "A House Is Not A Motel" which has to be heard to be believed. Carefully remastered from an original acetate copy in 24-bit. Unfortunately, no masters survived and no 100% clean copies are known to exist of the original acetates, but you'll get the best result for the possibilities. New artwork (the original acetate came in blank sleeve); insert with unseen pictures and liner notes by Paul Cross (Sweet Floral Albion). "...This is possibly the finest example of British underground psychedelia..." --Richard Falk, Galactic Ramble. "...Axe did not make a lot of music, but they made some phenomenal music. Some of the best ever to emerge from the swamp of heavy British psychedelia, certainly some of the rarest" --Paul Cross (Sweet Floral Albion). Rated with the maximum rarity in Hans Pokora's 5001 Record Collector Dreams book.”
CD $17

DAKILA - Dakila (Guerssen Records 072; Spain) “First ever official reissue, originally released in 1972. Dakila (a Filipino word meaning "greatness") emerged from the melting pot of musical fusions that originated in the San Francisco Bay Area of the late '60s. They often could be seen playing at Bill Graham's Fillmore West, SF Winterland and all the major clubs in the SF Bay Area and festivals. Singing in Tagalog, Spanish, and English, Dakila was the first Filipino-American band signed to a major label. Their sole album from 1972 combined their Filipino heritage with Latin rock, psychedelia/acid-rock, and Afro-funk. The result was an explosive, hot jamming sound full of congas/percussion, Hammond, dual fuzz guitar, fuzz-bass. Features corrected pitch (the original was speeded up by the producers against the band's will) and a color insert with detailed liner notes. 50th anniversary reissue. One of the hidden gems from the original Latin rock movement. RIYL: Santana, El Chicano, Barrabás, Chango, Malo, Mandrill.”
CD $17

THE FLYING LUTTENBACHERS with WEASEL WALTER / MATT NELSON / TIM DAHL / KATIE BATTISTONI / SAM OSPOVAT - Terror Iridescence (God Records 069LP; Austria) “Terror Iridescence” is the 4th full length release by the latter-day, New York City based reincarnation of the seminal Punk Jazz/No Wave/Brutal Prog unit The Flying Luttenbachers, and the 17th album since 1992. After all of this, longtime fans tend to expect notable creative twists to be pulled by the band with each release, and this one will not disappoint. This time around, our heroes have issued forth a boldly abstract haunted-house salvo of dizzying surrealism, loaded with exceptionally bizarre sonic tangents. After 2021’s blistering and compositionally dense “Negative Infinity”, FLs leader Weasel Walter decided to take another tack altogether: Instead of making another rehearsal intensive album of tightly scripted action, “Terror Iridescence” was improvised completely on the spot at Colin Marston’s Menegroth studio in Queens, New York on one day in October 2021. The individual instruments were mic’d up and then, with very little discussion, the ominous 20 –minute long “Meredyth Herold” (named after the obscure actress whose utterly jawdropping and singular performance in the 1990 perverto-noir flick “Singapore Sling” mirrors the morbid chaos of the piece) began to unfold. The main concept was to perform in reference to a click track heard only in the headphones, while Mr. Walter molded the structure in real time, cuing each player in or out and giving pointed suggestions…”
LP $30

DON CHERRY - Om Shanti Om (Black Sweat Records 058LP; Italy) LP version. “An amazing document of the life experiment that was the Organic Music Society. This super quality audio, recorded by RAI (the Italian public broadcasting company) in 1976 for television, documents a quartet concert focused on vocals compositions and improvisations. Here, Don Cherry and his family-community's musical belief emerges in its simplicity, with the desire to merge the knowledge and stimuli gained during numerous travels across the World in a single sound experience. Don's pocket-trumpet is melted with the beats of the great Brazilian percussionist Nana Vasconcelos, the Italian guitar of Gian Piero Pramaggiore, and the tanpura drone of Moki. A pure hippie aesthetic, like in an intimate ceremony, filters a magical encounter between Eastern and Western civilizations, offering different suggestions of sound mysticism: natural acoustics in which individual instruments and voices are part of a wider pan-tribal consciousness. A desert Western landscape marries Asian and Latin atmospheres. Indigenous contributions with berimbau explorations find fossil sounds of rattles and clap-hands invocations. Influences of Indian mantra singing are combined with eternal African voices or with folkish-Latin guitar rhythms, while flute and drums evoke distant dances. In the Organic Music everything becomes an act of devotion and love, an ecstatic dwell in the dimension of a sacred free-rejoice.”
LP $26

THE RESIDENTS - Meet The Residents (Cryptic Corporation 002T-LP; USA) "Formed in the early 1970s, The Residents have now been charting a unique path through the musical landscape for half a century. To commemorate their 50th Anniversary, the group revisit their 'classic' early period, presenting here the first in a series of expanded vinyl reissues featuring previously unreleased and newly rediscovered 1970s material from their ever-expanding archive. Produced with The Cryptic Corporation, and with full access to the band's extensive tape archive, this package explores and expands the classic debut album, including both mono and stereo mixes of Meet The Residents, alongside alternate versions, outtakes, recently re-discovered unreleased material and a fascinating audio tour of their studios and other business premises by Hardy Fox. Remastered, expanded, and pREServed for future generations -- this is the latest in a series of archival Residents reissues that will continue throughout 2023 and beyond."
3 LP Set $65

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ATTENTION ALL CREATIVE MUSICIANS OUT THERE, Around the world.

If you have a link for some music that you are working on and want to share it with the folks who read the DMG Newsletter, please send the link to DMG at DMG@Downtownmusicgallery.com.

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UPCOMING SETS from ALTO SAXIST NICK LYONS:

SAT Jan 14th 8pm, two sets
Endless Life Brewing
Franklin Ave at Pacific St in Crown Heights
Adam Caine Group will Stretch Out
Adam Caine, guitar 
Nick Lyons, alto sax
John McCutcheon, drums
Shayna Dulberger, bass

TUES Jan 17th 8-10pm
IBeam Brooklyn
168 7th St.
MOBKE, a French-American quartet started by bassist Théo Girard debuts in NYC after two successful residencies in France in 2022. It features the Montreuil-based Girard and Sophia Domancich (piano) with myself and fellow Brooklyner Lesley Mok (drums). An exciting blend of musical personalities! 
One set at 9pm
8pm set is a fantastic duet by pianist Carol Liebowitz and guitarist Adam Caine
$20

Thurs Jan 19th 6:30-7:30pm
MOBKE again at 
Maison Française at Columbia University

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Loren Connors: A Coming to Shore
January 28–March 25, 2023
Opening 4–7 PM January 28
11am–6pm, Thursday–Saturday

Loren Connors and Alan Licht
January 28, 2023, 7 PM
Blank Forms
468 Grand Ave #1D
Brooklyn, NY 11238

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This from Chuck Bettis:

Sunday, January 29th at 7pm:
Hisham Bharoocha (drums) / Nana Futagawa (shamisen) / Chuck Bettis (electronics) trio
Angels & Demons
(Amirtha Kidambi - voice, Darius Jones - sax)
Mick Barr (guitar)

At Union Pool
484 Union Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11211
$15 / trains: L to Lorimer OR G to Metropolitan

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FROM DAVE MILLER, A fine drummer & longtime DMG Manager:

OdoruGen
(The Dancing String)
Marco Cappelli- guitars
Rubin Kodheli - cello
Dave Miller - percussion

Live at Troost!
Monday Feb 6, 2023
No cover
1011 Manhattan Ave (Greenpoint)
Brooklyn, NY 11222
8-10pm
G train to Greenpoint Ave. exit north and walk one block.

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This one is from CHRIS CUTLER, original member of Henry Cow, Art Bears, News from Babel, respected author and founder of Recommended Records. This is Chris’ wonderful podcast and I urge you all to give it a listen… the new one just popped up today, 7/27/22:

https://rwm.macba.cat/en/research/probes-342-auxiliaries
https://rwm.macba.cat/en/research/probes-332-auxiliaries

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THERE IS A RECENT INTERVIEW with FRED FRITH by Rick Rees that is found here: https://rickrees.substack.com/p/fred-frith-interview . Rick Rees has been working on a website/blog/book/whatever about the great producer/manager/instigator/raconteur Georgio Gomelsky. Gomelsky is someone I’ve long admired and Rees is doing a good job of documenting/interviewing numerous Gomelsky associates. The Fred Frith interview is great and if you are a Frith fan, you should want to know about a number of upcoming projects, tours, etc. This interview showed up in my email during the last hour of my birthday last Sunday and it made me smile. Fred Frith & myself are old friends and he is someone whose music and attitude I really admire. - BLG

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AMAZING SERIES OF PODCASTS PUT TOGETHER BY THE GREAT GUITARIST SAMO SALAMON:

The wonderful Slovenian guitarist/composer Samo Salamon has an incredible podcast on Youtube entitled "DR. JAZZ". He has interviewed many of the leading lights of contemporary improvisation including Bill Frisell, Hal Galper, Herb Robertson, Ben Monder, Bob Moses etc. and his conversations are deep and enlightening. Highly recommended for all curious listeners across the worlds of creative music. Here is the link: https://www.bing.com/video

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Guitarist and DMG-pal HENRY KAISER has a monthly Video Solo Series on Cuneiform’s Youtube page:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pm-BC98IoY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ55c11bR28
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne82zmzvOm4

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ATTENTION TO ALL DMG CUSTOMERS: NEW EMAIL ADDRESS: downtownmusicgalleryofficial@gmail.com

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