Invisible System Redux--Ethiopian Post-Punk Fusion

Just  a quick post here.

Listen to this track by Invisible System--Bone Flaps. It is one of the most amazing musical syntheses you are likely to hear. Ethiopia, Jamaica, Punk, Funk, Disco. Other people have tried this type of amalgamation before, but at least for my tastes, I've yet to hear anything better. Perhaps it's because Dan Harper has spent considerable time living in Ethiopia. Getting immersed into an ancient culture.

This is one powerhouse song from the remarkable Street Clan album. Amazing singers and musicians expertly blended together into a delicious sonic bucket.  Pick a copy up today!

Keep the Bastards guessing....Peter Jefferies--Last Great Challenge in a Dull World

An abandoned flipper in a world of snow......

I still remember the letter I received in the mail from Bruce Russell of the Dead C... He said, "Alas, but Xpressway is no more"--it's just like me to get in on the tail end of something. I am of course referring to the New Zealand music label Xpressway, which had been run by Russell. He referred me to his new label Corpus Hermeticum (great name), which released for the most part more improvisational music. Flying Nun used to sell Xpressway cassettes in their mail order catalog--I think I may have a Peter Gutteridge cassette laying around someplace.....

So I am eternally thankful to Chicago's now defunct Ajax records for introducing me to another one of my many favorite albums, Peter Jefferies' The Last Great Challenge in a Dull World. Originally released on Xpressway in 1991, this has been a staple on the stereo ever since I heard it for the first time. One of the most subtly brutal records in my possession, a brilliant combination of experimental music and melodicism. As good a use of piano on a rock album that I know of. Like John Cale leading Joy Division maybe. Or maybe Ian Curtis fronting the Velvet Underground. Flip a coin. Actually this album is pretty singular, that has a coherence to it like an unintentional concept album.

High in Vitamin Zee

And as big a kiwi head as I am today, I don't know if I would have ever got my mitts on this without the intercession of Ajax, who licensed this bad boy from Xpressway. Additionally, Ajax released two super Cds by Jefferies' old band This Kind of Punishment, which included his brother Graeme, who later formed the Cakekitchen, another band worth investing in. The Jefferies brothers were also in Nocturnal Projections, a punkier band from the earlier 80's. With Shane Carter, Peter Jefferies created the song "Randolph's Coming Home", one of the greatest, most moving Kiwi Songs ever, a tribute to Wayne Elsey who died in a tragic train accident. And there is At Swim Two Birds, Jefferies' instrumental project with Jono Lonie, which I will also say a few things about one of these days.

 Sadly Ajax is no more, because it was a label of superb taste. Almost as bad for me, it was a retail store which sold lots of cool music at a reasonable price. It was my go-to mail order store for a number of years, and one that I never found an adequate replacement for.

First and foremost Jefferies has one of those recognizable voices, deep, dour, with an almost Mark E Smith tempered Shakespearean gravitas. He commands your attention, like a Mark Lanegan or Tom Waits would. But you pick up his accent and style, this is very much an album of New Zealand. Just a brilliantly odd album, with songs like Domesticia, which is like a modern folk song or maybe even a psalm, chanted over the sounds of making breakfast perhaps, and as a bonus probably one of the best uses of urination in a song.

But as much as anything else, there are the big songs here, like the follow up song, On an Unknown Beach, which simply a remarkable work of art. Absolutely moving, it's like he's painting an entire world with his sonic palette. As someone who plays the piano, I can fully appreciate what he's done on this record. Like the title of the album each song is a challenge in its own right. Furthermore, included on the Cd is the A and B sides of his single "The Fate of the Human Carbine". The aforementioned is song is brilliantly terse quietude, half madrigal, half murder ballad. Later covered by Cat Power. The B side to the single is Catapult, a joyously noisy number that could have found a place on a Dead C album.



Last Great Challenge....is simply one of those unique albums that sounds just as great as when I originally bought it. I mean, OK Computer took Radiohead 6 months in a studio and cost eleventy bazzillion pounds to make. And I think its a fantastic album that makes me so sad I can't listen to it so much. For me, its touches some a little too close to home abouth the end of the millenium times. But I know that Peter Jefferies probably spent a few hundred kiwibucks to make this and its not too far behind that album in quality, the difference being a handful of people listening to the latter, while the former becoming the biggest art-rock group in the world. No less creativity here either. It almost reminds me of the amazing advancements in studio technology made by people like Lee "Scratch" Perry in Jamaica. Sometimes people just find ways to do things outside the box.

For all the sinister balladry going on on the album like Neither Do I, there are also songs like Guided Tour of a Well Know Street, the aforementioned Catapult, and Cold View, which rock out like nobody's business. I'd be remiss not to mention the opening song Chain or Reaction, which is another highlight, an itchy, piano driven gem, building greater tension with each verse. Intelligent social commentary in the lyrics, with "everybody playing every body else's song."

This album is another one of the good ones. Maybe not for every person, but for me the music resonates deeply. I feel like a person who is on a secret when I listen to this. As far as I can tell, Peter Jefferies has not released a record since 2001, teaching music in New Zealand these days. Well, you never know what can happen in the music biz. If Bill Fay and The Distractions can put out new albums after all these years, maybe we'll hear something new from Peter Jefferies soon. Let's hope so.

Adam Schmitt Redux---Post Update--Why his music Kills

Very early on, I lauded the relatively unnoticed records of Champaign stalwart Adam Schmitt, his major label albums Illiterature and World So Bright, and his collection of unreleased work on Parasol, Demolition. I don't really feel like going back and adding to the original post, so I quickly am giving a few quick examples of why his music is so important.

From the Yellow Pills Refill comp on the Numero label: Speed Kills Here's a little number from World So Bright: My Killer From Illiterature: Me and You And this is from You are What you Shoot--I song I've never heard until two minute ago. Forgetting....Wow!

A truly unappreciated talent. Illiterature and World So Bright can be found for pennies used! I suggest you dive in and enjoy some great music today.

Eppu Normaali's Aknepop--Finland--What A Country!

I got a call from my mom at work the other day. Apparently she had contacted one of our Finnish relatives on Facebook. She had written to them years ago but was out of touch. My great-grandmother used to correspond with them regularly, but she passed away years ago. They live way up north, in Santa Claus land, up by the Arctic circle. My mom was pretty excited about finding them on Facebook, and I was pretty amazed to see that there were definitely some distinct similarities between people related yet don't really know each other. Maybe some of these things came from the influence of my late great-grandmother. Back then her biggest fear was that the relatives would want to come over and live with her because they were poor. Things are very different for Finland these days, as they possess one of the highest standards of living on earth.

My head began percolating with thoughts of Finland and I remembered that I purchased some Suomipunk on Ebay a while back.

Eppu Normaali. Aknepop. Their first one. 1978-Poko Records. Great god damned album. They sound like the Finnish Clash. I don't know what they are saying, but this is classic stuff, upper-tier punk rock.

I'm started doing a little research and it turns out that they are one of the most popular if not most popular rock bands in Finland ever. It sounds like some crazy alternate universe, like waking up one morning and finding out that the punks took over. A punk rock fantasy.

What a country. I know I'm part Finnish and a little predisposed, but that's pretty remarkable. My admiration grew when I watched the Finnish Olympic hockey team nearly beat the Swedes in the finals. Nobody expected them to do anything, and they got a silver medal through pure guts and determination. I remember there was a guy with no front teeth jumping around throughout the games. A language with a lot of vowels. Been there once and had a great time. Had rye porridge for the first time. Really liked Helsinki--hope to return someday soon.

Of course it turns that unlike most punk acts, they kept together for years and years and they ultimately became more of a traditional rock act. But that's usually what happens with bands after a few albums. An album like say, Primal Scream's Xtrmnatr is one of those exceptions. Look at Stiff Little Fingers last album before they initially split up Now Then..... By any stretch of the imagination a very decent record, but the songs that everyone knows the words to at shows are not on that one. But in fairness, good bands aren't going to stay in one place for long.

Martti Syrjä: Vocals
Aku Syrjä: Drums
Mikko Syrjä: Guitar
Mikko Saarela: Bass
Juha Tovinen: Guitar


I'm listening to Aknepop for the 3rd time today, and each time I listen, the more I get into these guys.
Listen to song 8, Poliissi Pamputtaa Taas. (Cop beats with baton 2). Absolutely stunning. There name comes from Abby Normal, the brain that was put into the creature in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein. Aknepop roars out of the gate with Teen Sinusta Muusia--overall I am reminded of the Clash's 1st album when I hear these songs. Listen to the anthemic Suomi Ryomii, (Finland Crawls). Really high energy music. I definitely give Aknepop a high recommendation.

I haven't used them to buy music, but it seems that the Stupido Records Store site would be a pretty good place to find Suomipunk. They seem to have most of Eppu Normaali discography in stock. As more and more mp3 albums are being posted for sale, there are a lot more records across the globe becoming readily and cheaply available. I still like to have something tangible, so call me old fashioned. As for Eppu Normaali, though I am not familiar with their later output,  I think that any fan of 1977-style punk rock should definitely seek this album out.