American Alternative music reviews

America's most sonically demented band abandons the ordinary punk rock structure and and makes a soundtrack for a fun house in outer space. Rembrandt may not the the Surfers' most accomplished record, but it is probably their strangest, which is saying alot given the rest of their catalog. High points are their bent take on the Perry Mason theme, the double drummers on "Whirling Hall Of Knives", the backwards fiddle squiggling thru "Creep In the Cellar", and of course, their cubist cover of "American Woman" which would make Lenny Kravitz widdle in his vinyl pants. The Cream Corn EP is included with the CD, which makes this a great buy, as at least half of it is essential Surfers. I'll take this moment as I have in the past to lament the sad, sellout demise of this band, who went out like a popcap gun instead of a shotgun.

This is the most complex and intelligent CD to come out of the '80's post-punk scene. The Buttholes were funny and violent and weird both before and after REMBRANDT PUSSYHORSE, but they were never as cohesive. This is not a scary CD, it's just powerful.

The addition of the CREAM CORN ep is nice but it messes up the tone.

This was the first Butthole Surfers' album I bought on my own; a friend had introduced me to them a few months before with "Independent Worm Saloon" and "Pioughed", so I felt I was ready to venture into the unknown, unassisted. The reverbed drums and the backwards fiddle on "Creep In The Cellar" should have warned me away, but it made me crave more; years later, when I found out the secret behind the fiddle, makes me more appreciate its presence and it's vitality to the song. Then, what completely blew me away was "American Woman", absolutely the finest cover song ever recorded by any band. As for more insight, I'll have to update this once I get my new copy of the CD in the mail, since I lost the tape I had and it has been a while since I heard this album...

rock and roll with soul and swagger and blood

I don't know much about fancy writings but I do know that this CD kicks ass. What a voice girl, what a voice!

I heard this band for the first time on XM radio.

I wish XM had been around 5 years ago when the first Stone Coyotes album came out because then I wouldn't have needed to wait five years to find this band.

Better late than never.

For all you rockers out there. This is the band. This is the band that ought fill the void of great American rock band that Aerosmith had, Guns n' Roses inherited and nobody has grabbed since.

the first thing i thought when i saw this cd was "oh...wow, this is the band who did that Themes From Venus album a long time ago...cool." the second thing i thought was "i have never seen an album cover with worse layout and graphic design. it would have been difficult to make this look any uglier!" but this is a pretty cool cd, not as embraceable as their past work, but full of some sweet gems like "Christ Among The Children" and "Palace Of Illusion." Love Tractor's jangly pop sounds just as relevant as it did in their heydey, but the heavy presence of keyboards gives The Sky At Night a less urgent and heartfelt tone...resulting in a lack of sparkle in some of these songs... but overall, not bad.

This is one of Love Tractor's best records.

It should be alot more popular.

I think people just wanted poor old Mike and Mark to

keep making their first album over and over again.

Artists have to grow and change folks!

Buy this one now, and make your ears and brain very happy.

Weird songs, slow arpeggios, dreamy vocals. Sounds a lot like Love Tractor! The bottom line: when you're in the mood for this, or to hear something different, nothing else will do.

I remember when i was a little girl my father would always play his guitar and sing to me.I still have the poster from this album. god has blessed this group with a lot of talented people like sam,my father paris delane,everyone in the group.They have come a long way and has worked very hard to get where they are today.They have touched so many people young and old from all over the world.They have been so many places,seen so many thing's,had good and bad times but through god they made it.I am very proud of my father,the whole sonia dada group. as my guardian angel (grandma lylian) would say, this is the day that the lord has made and i will rejoice and be glad in it. AMEN! GOD BLESS all of you. I LOVE YOU DADDY! ALWAYS YOUR BABYGIRL DIAMOND WILLIAMS. WWW.MARIAHPOOH21@YAHOO.COM

this is the album that started it all. Now, scores of dedicated Sonia Dadaites exist, and pack concert halls whenever they perform. This band has something different. They are different kinds of people. They are truly gifted musicians and singers, and as nice of people as you'd ever want to meet. They'll stop and talk, sign autographs, whatever for their fans. They're as beautiful as their music. And there music is something to behold. It gets inside your head, your heart and your soul, and leaves you with the feeling that music should. If you've not heard Sonia Dada, do yourself a favor and give it a listen. You'll never be the same again.

I was looking for the new Sonia Dada record and noticed this CD had not been reviewed. To briefly sum up, Sonia Dada plays a mix of jazz, gospel, rock, and rhythm and blues. Although I typically steer away from adult oriented music this is one of my favorite CD's. The song writing is very good and the vocalists are amazing. Their first two CD's (this and A Day at the Beach) are my favorites.

Well, NOU are a very great, totally underrated band, particularly in relationship to the Refused, which is an OK, but not totally great band. This band is better then the Make Up. This is their best record.

NOU emerged and collapsed with the same sonic synchronicity belying each song of their plan. America could only crumble so beautifully and then re-emerge in splendor when playing pretty for baby. Although I favor their second album, this one should not be overlooked. The personify the postmodern age while ultimately deconstructing with their songs. If Derrida were a musician, this is the band he would join.

i bought this because i love the make up, and n.o.u. has at least two of the same members, most importantly the awesome i. svenonius, known for his crazy baby-like singing. while not as good as the make up, i think this is a great cd in its own right, and definitely has a more old school punk feel than the make up, who are truly original and defy easy description but rock like theres no tomorrow basically with some of the most original riffs ever. i really like this cd because the punk songs rock without sounding corny or contrived, and they do some bold original things that really work, like adding crazed trumpet playing to some of the songs, and it never sounds gratitous or uncalled for. plus, some of the song writing is great.. check out diptheria especially. while most songs are punk, which is great in itself, they mix it up a lot showing signs of what the make up will eventually sound like, especially the aforementioned song, diptheria. i. svenonius's singing is a little more restrained on this cd, but hes still great.

This is a story of Cleveland, and how more than a few of its residents were driven insane by the economic depression and the bleakness of the post-industrial wasteland that was the "rust-belt" of the late 60's and early-mid 70's. Having nothing better to do, they just made music, with most likely nary a clue as to how influential their experimental tinkerings would become to a whole generation of musical revolutionaries.

I had always heard the name "Pere Ubu" mentioned by many modern musical artists (and many of my personal favorites) as being a big influence, but I never actually heard any of their songs until I got satellite radio a couple of years ago. I was immediately intrigued by songs like "Final Solution", "Nonalignment Pact", and "Ubu Dance Party", and then I found this box set available that contained all of their early work, so I figured, what the heck? At first, I was overwhelmed by radically diverse song structures and bizarre sounds, not to mention Dave Thomas' crazed (to quote Steven Grant of the Trouser Press) "plebian warble", and I worried that I had made a big mistake. However, after a few listens, things started to gel a bit and I was able to finally get my head around the sheer brilliance and inventiveness of this groundbreaking work. Now, here's my breakdown of the 5 discs in this box set:

Disc A contains the original Datapanik EP and The Modern Dance LP. This is easily the most accessible of their work and is definitely the place you should start if you have no familiarity with this band. The song structures are pretty straight-forward in the garage-punk sense, but there is still plenty of the idiosyncrasies (both vocal and instrumental) that would virtually take over in their later work. Everything here is uniformly great, except for maybe "Sentimental Journey" and "The Book is on the Table", which aren't actual songs as much as just experiments in sound and mood (all their albums have these "soundscape" pieces - they're not really filler, but they're not music in the traditional sense either).

Disc B contains the Dub Housing and New Picnic Time LP's, and this has become my favorite of the 5 discs over time. The key here is "OVER TIME", as the music on this disc was, at first, incomprehensibly bizarre to me, and it appeared to be the nonsensical ravings of lunatics trapped in an insane asylum with musical instruments and recording equipment. I gave it a chance, though, and ended up being greatly rewarded for my perseverance. Once you "get it", the amalgamation of blues, jazz, rock, pop, and downright performance art fleshed out with reckless abandon is just amazing. The humor and the horror, along with a myriad of other emotional nuances, always leaves something new to be discovered each time I listen. Once again, everything is great, with "Thriller!" and "A Small Dark Cloud" serving as the quasi-ambient soundscape interludes. My favorite song is probably "Small Was Fast" - that one just kills me. The first two discs of this set have actually become two of my favorite CDs of ALL TIME!

For me, things wane a little bit on disc C, which includes the material from Art of Walking and Song of the Bailing Man. I like about half the songs here, with most of those coming from Art of Walking. The music from Song of the Bailing Man seems a little staid and forced when compared to their earlier stuff. This is probably my least favorite disc of the 5, but some of you may find this almost as accessible as the material on disc A, especially if you end up getting more into Pere Ubu's smoother, jazzier side.

Disc D contains selections from two live recordings, one in 1978 and the other in 1981. The sound is bootleg quality, and this is not meant to be a "best of" live recordings (as Dave Thomas explains in the vocal liner notes: "that's life, that's art"), but the performances are actually quite good and offer sometimes radically different takes on the studio versions of the songs.

Disc E is quite interesting as it is made up entirely of side projects and other Cleveland bands belonging to the Pere Ubu extended family. I didn't have any expectations for this one, but I actually ended up liking about two thirds of the songs here. I'm especially fond of the raw, garage-rock of the songs by Friction, Tripod Jimmie, Rocket from the Tombs, and the Mirrors. You can really here how this lot were influenced by earlier pioneers such as the Velvet Underground and Television.

So, in conclusion, for those of you who are interested in exploring the roots of where a lot of today's better music comes from, or if you just want a unique musical experience, you should consider this Pere Ubu box set. Be warned, though, this is some pretty challenging stuff, and you'll have to uphold your end of the bargain by doing some work yourself - this is not ear candy that's going to reveal itself for what it is on the first (or even second) listen. However, if you give it a chance, I think you'll be deeply rewarded. Why not 5 stars? Well, I think it's almost impossible for these large box sets to ever warrant 5 stars because there's always going to be stuff that you don't like or just aren't into, but I don't think that's their purpose anyway. To me, these types of compilations are meant to be like smorgasbords, where you pick out what you like from a vast selection of delicacies, some of which you can't find anywhere else. Have I made you hungry? Well, then, dig in!

You need to love, honor, and obey these records, jointly or severally: and you might want to buy the original records for cover art and order alone, but if you are not familiar with the premise of Pere Ubu (addressing the problem of datapanik) I expect the box set might straighten you out a little bit. However, what you do not need to do is be particularly faithful to Pere Ubu's vision; although covers of Pere Ubu are frequently enough attempted, the point is to be quite singular, which they have always managed (though consider 15-60-75 and other 70s Cleveland acts included on the final disc). A lot of people don't like Pere Ubu, and although this has its consequences this is not a good reason not to listen to them; and frankly, partisans of *musique concrete* need to reconsider exactly what they are recommending to the people of the modern dance if it is not something like this. (Note: there are few partisans of musique concrete. Note that this is a note.)

This set sneaked out, at a very reasonable price, a few years ago and was presumably gobbled up by those of us familiar with Ubu's music from decades gone by. Those unacquainted with Pere Ubu's work from the 70's should consider purchase too, at least if you're interested in dissonant music and/or in progressive, complex hard rock music. Let me try to describe each disc in this (very moderately priced) set.

Disc 1 has the original "Datapanic" EP, consisting of tunes originally released on singles circa 1976 and 1977. These songs, such as the scarifying "Heart of Darkness" and "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" are dark but within their moody framework extremely well-constructed. The band starts to open it out a little on tracks like "Heaven" (sounds like the Rolling Stones circa 1976) and "Cloud 149" (sounds like some of the most brilliant utilization of rock riffs and instrumentation that I have ever heard). We are then treated to Ubu's debut LP (from 1978) "The Modern Dance" which has always been my favorite of theirs. This is the true sound of the American underground, sitting fermented in a pile of Velvets and Stooges records for years and now ready to burst out and make the world take notice. Each element of the band (Tom Herman's inside-out and always tasteful guitar, Scott Krauss's perfectly on-the-mark, fluid and creative drumming, Tony Maimone's probing bass, Alan Ravenstine's Eno-esque [circa Roxy Music] keyboard dissonance, and David Thomas' Tiny Tim-like vocal journeys) congeals into a powerful whole. The LP contains 10 songs and suffice it to say that they are all different and all worthwhile. It is a brilliant album which did deserve, and still does deserve, to be heard.

Disc 2 has the "Dub Housing" LP from 1978 and the "New Picnic Time" LP from 1979. Each of these is a classic in its own right and pursues furtherance of the band's adventurous and rhythmically dense style. "Dub Housing" is full of great instrumental interplay and fascinating stylistic maneuvers; "New Picnic Time" gets a bit dark and meandering but contains an EP's worth of stuff that probably ranks as some of the strongest and most delicious music ever to be filed under the "rock" genre.

Disc 3 is not Ubu at their best - it has most of the tracks from the two albums recorded after Mayo Thompson replaced Tom Herman on guitar - "The Art of Walking" and "Song of the Bailing Man". These LPs are unusual curiosities, especially "The Art of Walking" which has to rank as one of the strangest products ever released, but you'll probably never be motivated to get up and play them each before breakfast on a daily basis.

Disc 4 is "390 Degrees of Simulated Stereo Volume 2", actually the third live Ubu release. Like Volume 1 (still out-of-print) this collection is highlighted by material recorded live by the 1978 band. In addition to songs which were on Volume 1, there's an interesting run through "Sentimental Journey" (a dark piece which manages to be both droning and anarchic). The disc also contains some material recorded during the Mayo Thompson days.

Disc 5 is an unusual collection of tracks by Ubu-related projects or bands, or Cleveland bands that had an effect on Ubu. It's an unusual concept, but contributes effectively to showing us the "Cleveland Scene" that spawned Ubu. My favorites include Rocket From The Tombs' version of "30 Seconds Over Tokyo", Tom Herman (with Scott Krauss) doing a track called "Steve Canyon Blues", and Peter Laughner (who played with the band on their early singles) leading his band "Friction" through "Dear Richard". The Mirrors' "She Smiled Wild" is quite interesting too, as is 15-60-75's "It's In Imagination". "Syd's Dance Party" (which included Krauss and Maimone) contribute a very nice track also.

Okay. What's the bottom line on all this? Well, it's indispensably great. A great conflagration of energies. At its moderate price, you should buy it if you're interested in Ubu.

Though import CD's are definitely a bit on the expensive side, this DMB Import is well worth it for true fans. Besides the radio edit of Don't Drink the Water, this has two previously unreleased live versions of past hits: A version of Crash into Me recorded at the Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, VA in '97, as well as a version of Tripping Billies recorded in New Orleans in '96. Both are great versions, and make the cd well worth the price alone. I definitely recommend it.

one of the better singles by dave out there, definetly recommened it.

I think of all the DMB singles that I own (DDTW, Stay, and So Much To Say), this one is the best. "Don't Drink" has excellent versions of Crash and Tripping Billies that I think anyone who likes DMB should listen to.

This CD is a combination of the double LP Double Whammy, plus the EP Breaking No New Ground and a couple of 7" singles. There is a total of 120 minutes of "music". The packaging is a poor reproduction of the Double Whammy album cover. It is blurry and difficult to read. There are no liner notes. The sound quality is poor for a studio recording. I haven't heard the original LP's so I don't know if the CD is any worse than the originals.

This is New York performance art. This is the kind of stuff that New York was producing in the very late seventies to mid eighties, along with the punk and disco movements. Bongwater was actually fairly late to the party. This stuff comes from 1988, while Grace Jones had completed her performance art stage in 1986 and Laurie Anderson had been doing this type of stuff over 7 years.

Bongwater was different in that they did some very wierd and very psychodelic material. There some very interesting passages. They do some wild experimentations. They mix all kinds of music genres. They do some strange covers of popular songs. There is a lot of talking and stories added on to short snippets of music. Some of it was brilliant. Much of it wasn't.

A lot of people talk about how inspired Dazed and Chinese is. This consists of Led Zeppelin's Dazed and Confused being sung with in Mandarin by Ann Magnusen with a stereotypical, cartoonish Chinese accent. I don't think it is inspired. I think it is offensive and cheap way to try to get a laugh. It would have been much more effective if she had sung it straight up in Chinese, as a real Asian would, instead of in a mawkish, insulting way.

Bongwater is Mark Kramer (known simply as Kramer) and Ann Magnusen. Kramer has done many projects with fringe bands and a few English progressive/jazz musicians (such as Hugh Hopper). Magnusen has done many different things, including acting. She was the best thing in a bad ABC show called Anything But Love.

Bongwater but out 4 LP's plus a bunch of EP's and 7" inch singles, which was common for New York artists in the eighties. There is a boxset combining all their work. Hopefully, it has better sound quality than this CD. The Power Of Pussy was their best album.

This double CD consists of the collections Double Bummer (1988) and Breaking No New Ground (1987), as well as the 7" single (1989) consisting of their covers of Roky Erickson's "You Don't Love Me Yet" and a blaring rendition of the Monkees' "Porpoise Song." This is among the most weird and avant-garde music I've ever heard, incorporating psychedelia, documentary excerpts, pop culture, and emotional postmodernist performance art. What bizarre stuff Ann Magnuson, Kramer from But---le Surfers, and company have wrought! Highlights.

"Frank" has Magnuson at her bizarre, her incoherent bellowing out angst-ridden lines over Kramer's guitar chords like some punkish performance artist. Some of Ann's demented rants include "the party's over get out of my bed why don't you go slit your wrists i'd rather starve kiss my feet get out sight f--- the subpoena where's the sheet music? you didn't spell my name right" Another is an emotional catharsis of "His New Look."

"Joyride" is a descriptive monologue about her traveling with friends and suggesting becoming leftist radicals, defending her position by saying she's "not a negative person, but angered by so much of what is around" before launching into a cacophony of background dialogue, droning guitar and drums. "Decadent Iranian Country Club" is another monologue about her being at the title place, "pre-Ayatollah" and her wanting to leave.

Another voice that pops up is a Christian boy whose cute voice sounds a bit like one of Donald Duck's nephews, and whenever he comes on, it's usually as an intro leading into the song, such as "Joyride" or "You Don't Love Me Yet."

"David Bowie Wants Ideas" has her encountering two Davids, Bowie who sends her a form letter and xylophone inviting her to contribute ideas that go into his album, and a weird surrealist experience with David Byrne, with whom she drinks some perfume in a bottle shaped like the head of King Tut.

Their tendency to do odd takes on cover versions is evident here. They do three Beatles songs, a slowed down chugging guitar version of "Love You To", "Julia" from the White Album, and "Rain." However, the oddest has to be "Dazed And Chinese," which is Led Zeppelin's "Dazed And Confused" sung in Mandarin Chinese (I AM NOT KIDDING!) It sounds so funny to make me forget the original. And "Four Sticks" is done with a fuzzy bass with some screams and dialogue playing in the background, same style as their take on Gary Glitter's "Rock And Roll Part 2." Mike Nesmith's "Just May Be The One" and Johnny Cash's "There You Go" are two of the other standouts, the latter done without any tricks, but when did Cash attach a clip of someone praising the death of Leonid Brezhnev, "jailer of his own people, the slavemaster of Eastern Europe, the butcher of Afghanistan?"

"So Help Me God" has audio excerpts from Nixon's losing speech from 1962 for the California governship, and his victory speech from 1968, while an acoustic guitar plays a sober melody, with some pounding drums coming in at one point. The title comes from the last four words of Nixon's swearing in for another four year term.

"Reaganation" is by far my favourite, an Irish drinking song where Ann puts down Reagan, and his military actions, fighting for the rights of the rich. Cool lines: "he's just an a----le like you," "he smiles when he gives you the shaft/if you think that he cares for poor folks/well then I surmise that you're daft." "to some they're American heroes/to us they're american cr-p." Oh yes, Magnuson is on the politically left, in case one didn't twig that.

Songs like "Ride My Seesaw" and "USO" are cacophonies of music, noise.

Acquired taste does not begin to cover this album's material. Me, I like it for its experimental, deranged, demented, and eccentric material. Of Bongwater's four releases, this is the best and weirdest.

This is such a great album. I discovered it when I was in high school 10 or so years ago, and dating a guy who was really silly but had GREAT taste in music. My theory is that most of the songs are Ann Magnuson reading her dreams over fairly psychedelic-sounding, but still modern-enough music. That they called the album "Breaking No New Ground" is charmingly self-deprecating, but not true at all. I mean, who else would think to record "Dazed and Confused" in Chinese and then call it "Dazed and Chinese"?
Give Bongwater a go, if for anything to hear the great, underused actress Ann Magnuson sing. Their music is not as druggy as their group name sounds but their songs are very intelligent and harmonious as well.

I had heard so much hype about Prison Bound over the years so when I finaly picked up a copy I was hyped up! Ready to rock out to another storming Social D record(after only hearing Mommy.. and Mainliner). You Shoulda' seen the look on my face when it started playing :( Yeah kinda like that except angrier. The album opens with a watered down re-recording of It's The Law. Mike Ness even changed some of his own lyrics so that their just dumb. ANYWAY'S,besides a good version of the Stones Backstreet Girl I no longer listen to this album. If you like Punk or anything close to it than this album will leave you with 'cold feelings'. Buy Mommy's Little Monster or Mainliner instead for some rock n roll the right way.

i disagree with that earlier reviewer. social distortion was a "breakout" band for me. i never had to work my way backwards. they were always good to me. i bought this tape at sam goody in the laguna hills mall when i was in the 7th gtade. it kicked ass then and it still does now. actually, i heard "mommy's little monster" after this and thought it was incredible. the band is good and rocks. what more can you say? to be honest, i haven't bought thier recent stuff but i still have alot of respect for them.

A great CD by a great punk band staying true to the roots of punk !

I had the misfortune of seeing Fat Amy once during their peak, if you could call it that. They were terrible. Void of any passion or anything that resembled it. If you like watered down, safe "collge rock" that sounds just like all the other carbon copy bands out there, then Fat Amy may be right up your alley. If you like music that is powerful, driven by true emotion, or god forbid just plain SOMETHING THAT SOUNDS ORIGINAL then look elsewhere. Now that their hack singer has finally made a name for himself as a semi celebrity (via a vomit inducing reality TV show) people are now talking about that band as if they were ever a big deal. They had a moderate following, I'll even go as far as to say an respected following for a local band (from Lansing mind you, not exactly New York or Chicago people), but they really didn't accomplish much. People are trying to make them out to be a big deal, which they never were. Not by a long shot.

*Originally released in 1998
*Most of the goods songs can be downloaded for free at MP3.com
*Some songs are unlistenable - bad!
*Lead singer Bob Guiney is the next "Bachelor" on ABC TV this Fall (2002).

This CD makes a great addition to any Alternative Rock collection. Every song rocks! Do not pass this one up.