On Tape

Rip It Up, Issue 83, 1 June 1984, Page 28

On Tape

A Spanner in the Works No.l (Industrial)

Industrial's first compilation of Auckland music may not be 100 per cent wonderful but it beats the living shit out of previous absurd marketing exercises like Hauraki Homegrown. Side One is mostly live, mostly guitar bands and, with the exception of Flak's Dieneke, all blokes. Odd track out is some propagandoodles from a studio fiction of Mason and Bell. Others are Eight Living Legs and Exploding Budgies. Recording quality isn’t always great, especially on the Budgies, but the spirit is captured. Side Two's got a lot more women (Phantom Forth, Vibraslaps, Kim Blackburn) with a cleaner sound, less live stuff and less rock. It's the more successful side for being more adventurous, but then I'm like thats|H^Hl

Hey look, you undiscovered

geniuses, drop Paul Luker a line, he'll understand. CK Air Aces Live (Industrial) Adam and the Air Aces are a bunch of grizzled old : buggers doing what they do best - getting pissed and : having a ; good time f>laying the bluest This is recorded ive at Waikato University and the Aces get the audience involved straight away. "Anybody pissed yet? Anybody stoned yet 7" The Aces are Ralph Bennett, Taranaki Sol, Wayne’ Wilson, Kevin Thomas and poet Bruce Bisset, who (sort of) holds things together and has a bit of a sing himself. Not all of it appeals to my ear but most of it does I like Bennett's bloos the best, 1 there's a kinda weird edge. A trimmed-down version of the Aces is currently touring the North Island. This isn't the All Stars, this is a lot more intimate. RB

The Dolls House (Ima Hitt, S 4) . The Dolls House recorded this live in a pub and it sounds that way. They've taken the unusual step of including four covers among the six songs, apparently because they came out better on the tape than their own songs. They do the covers ('Summertime Blues', 'Jumpin' Jack Flash', etc) pretty well actually, but, you know ... 'lsn't It Enough?' by singer guitarist Karl Teten sounds a bit like, the Verlaines and is rather likeable. Leaving Town' isn't as good but Teten's voice shows a lot of promise. Mainly for mates only, though. RB

Smarts Legless 2nd Tape

(Portobello)

A paint tin ... inside ... a pair of old underpants (clean), some callous cream, dried peas, a pen, an empty vitamin tube, four golf balls ... uh, and the tape. That's limited edition packaging for yer. A tape of 37 songs at an average length of 16.5 seconds might sound a bad idea but the two youths responsible make it work. Short, sharp ideas in living stereo and variable speed; found sounds and made-up words. Some of it, of course, is awful. Available only at Real Groovy Records. Hurry

and you might get the one in the shoe.-• RB McNaughton and Craw Suburban Cacophony (15. Craddock St. StJi Brighton. Christchurch. 7. S 3

Angus' McNaughton and Andrew Craw went into Andrew's bedroom for an .unspecified period, did some recording, took the', tape to Nightshift Studios. to mix it and this is the result. Keyboard noises dominate these five songs but this is no synth-washed tedium. This pair have played with noises in a manner that recalls, the better purveyors of electronic music, and bears a kinship with fellow mainlanders Wreck Small Speakers (etc.). On any terms, okay and for a first effort, very good indeed. RB

Flipper, Blow'n Chunks (ROIR) Joe "King" Carrasco ; ■ ■ Tales From the Crypt (ROIR) Sex Gang Children Ecstasy and Vendetta Over New York (ROIR) mBBBQI

You may have observed a while back my expounding on the merits of American music. Well, it still holds. The ROIR catalogue accompanying these cassettes features a gamut of good Yank and European music around at present, including Bad Brains, Eight Eyed Spy (featuring Lydia Lunch), Human Switchboard and others. For instance, those doyens of San Francisco hardcore, Flipper, have a new release called Blow'n Chunks, which was recorded live at CBGB's. It's a rumpus of distortion, of pummelling drums, of meathead adrenalin bursts. Catharsis anyone? And then there's Joe "King" Carrasco's Tales From the Crypt. an amalgam of Tex-rock, garageband and Latin swing. Most of the material was recorded as far back as 1979 but it holds up particularly well. The dude's even smart-assed enough to incorporate an organ, which he uses to neat effect on tracks like 'Let's Get Pretty' and 'Monkey Got My Frisbee'. Pure delight with chilli con came and a nice bottle of red wine.

Last and unfortunately least are Britain's own Sex Gang Children with Ecstasy and Vendetta Over New York. Recorded live at Danceteria, it's a performance of astounding limitations. I guess we need examples like this so our judgements become clearer but horrible is horrible, nonetheless.

Anyway, send for a catalogue and sample some of the treats. Write to Reachout International Records, 611 Broadway, Suite 214-T, New York. NY 10012. S.J. Townshend

MCS, Babes in Arms (ROIR) This collection of out-takes, remixes and live tracks traces the 5 from their 1965 debut single. Van Morrison's 'I Can Only Give You Everything' and their first experimental use. of feedback in 1966 (1 Just Don't Know"), through the fast and anthemic Tonight', 'Shakin' Street' and 'American Ruse’, fraught and frantic workouts like 'Poison', 'Skunk' and the previously unreleased Gold', recorded during their final days in London in 1971. And of course an all-amps-on-10 live mix of the classic "Kick Out the Jams (Motherfuckers)'. Great stuff. ■lf you've never heard of the 5 and wondered where "power pop" came from, this is a golden opportunity to acquaint yourself with a legend. Available from Reachout International Records, 611 Broadway, Suite 214, NYC, NY 10012, USA for USSB, plus $2 postage to NZ. ID