Wednesday, 27 May 2026

Tom MacDonald Exposed - Music to Activate, 1981 Calif.

 




An insane cover, but totally a sign of those naive times, when nudists expected their nutty trend would one day take over the world...  Why wouldn't it, being 'more natural'?  then again, why would it? 99 percent of humans as I see it would prefer to cover up their imperfections, and leave everything to imagination which is always more beautiful than the real thing, surely.  And in an era where sexual harassment is such a primal issue, why would women want to walk around naked in public and aggravate the problem?  Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't it be hard to work at a bank, or go there, if all the tellers were naked?  Insane times those were back then.  And the fact that they named this LP after the same exhibitionistic image / concept! As if the founder was a true believer!

Note the discogged information here:

1980s folk rock/soft rock group from Nevada City, California who released their sole album in December 1981 on the small local label Bennett House Records to little fanfare or success however new interest for the group would emerge when it was revealed that DJ Shadow had sampled their work for the song Bloodstain on 1998's UNKLE - Psyence Fiction.

It's basically soft rock, ssw, entirely.  There is little hint of the fact we entered into the dreaded 80s decade.  Movement featuring a solo piano composition is nice to listen to, but not representative:



The final track called So What reminds me so eerily of my old folk acoustic favourite Gene Hood, the one album in that dept that I adore so profoundly and feel so sad it didn't become better known:



Monday, 25 May 2026

Robert Wyatt in The Animals soundtrack, 1982

 




Can't believe I never heard this before-- and of course, it goes without saying I'm a lifelong, huge mega-fan of Soft Machine and all the artists that were involved with them.

Discogs page for the album here.  I believe, but I'm not sure, when I went to explore the post-Matching Mole releases from him, a long time ago, I passed this one by because of its erroneous description as abstract or experimental.  Admittedly there are passages that are exactly that, but there is at least half a (short) LP's worth of genuinely interestingly composed progressive synthesizer music.  Or maybe it wasn't listed there at the time.

Description:
Soundtrack to anti-vivisection movie 'The Animals Film' directed by Victor Schonfeld. 
Narration is by Julie Christie.

Luckily it has its own wiki page, here, on which you can read about the movie, if you're as interested as I am:

The Animals Film is a 1981 feature documentary film about the use of animals by human beings, directed by Victor Schonfeld and Myriam Alaux, and narrated by actress Julie Christie.

Synopsis
The Animals Film presents a survey of the uses of animals in factory farming, as pets, for entertainment, in scientific and military research, hunting, etc. The film also profiles the international animal rights movement. The film incorporates secret government footage, cartoons, newsreels, and excerpts from propaganda films.
etc.

I can just imagine how horrifying some scenes must be, based on the cover monkey.  Probably I wouldn't have the heart to watch it.  We have to bear in mind that standards are a little bit higher today than at the time, 24 years ago.  Only a little bit though.

Note the following though:

Robert Wyatt composed an original soundtrack for the film, released in 1982 on Rough Trade Records. The film also features music from the Robert Fripp album Let the Power Fall, Talking Heads and ex-Audience frontman Howard Werth. Critical reception of the soundtrack was mixed. Ted Mills of album database AllMusic described the soundtrack as "moody" and filled with "tasty-sounding analog synths from the late '70s", but ultimately it "disappoint[s] fans of Wyatt's vocals." It was later issued in a heavily edited form (losing more than 10 minutes, with no explanation given) as a Japanese CD, and all later CD reissues have been cloned from this master.

Part 1.2 is fantastic prog:


Part 2.2 with the classic Wyatt reverbed vocalizing:



Wonderful stuff. Exciting for me to hear, for the first time.  I'll try to watch the movie too, which I found here.


Friday, 22 May 2026

US Fusion Band, The Awakening in 2 albums [Hear, Sense and Feel 1971, and Mirage, 1972]






Pretty ordinary US fusion with vocals, but I wanted to highlight the amazing cover art of the third LP which is a compilation of tracks from the 2 earlier releases.  That butterfly Nefertiti is just crazy, isn't it?I saw it a vinyl store and was blown away by the design, so classic.

Sparse info on discogs on this page.  From the first album, the Awakening Prologue:


From the second and last album, Mirage:

Wednesday, 20 May 2026

Back to the University of Miami Band, Part 2: Estramos Ahi 1983, and My Ideal 1987 [WAV files]

 






These 2 are not quite as compelling as the preceding Seventh Sign.

From 1983's Estamos Ahi, In a Fashion:



From 1987's My Ideal, Beckon Call:



Monday, 18 May 2026

Back to the University of Miami Band, Part 1: Seventh Sign 1977 [WAV limited time]

 





I wonder if people remember the 2-LP I ripped from this univ. band, long ago called Halcyon Days.  Here is the 1977 release, called Seventh Sign.  Note the 2 different covers, hard to say which one is more attractive-- both are.

The title track is quite enjoyable: