Wednesday 31 December 2014

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Yearly Poem


Rob Ayling writes: 

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Tom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied with in seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not? why not indeed!!" (The wondrous poetpic is by Jack McCabe, who I hope forgives me for scribbling all over it with Photoshop)

2 0 1 5
NEW EAR REVOLUTIONS
As if every moment were not NEW
and every experience novel
Every heartbeat of 2014 just sequencing around another orbit
And you KNOW you will not honor self-promises
Like taking selfies of the soul-they are mere affirmations
with no power other than applied will.And you will not!
Time makes liars of us all.We Fall into Winter's cold
Drink in illusions of change/recount GREATEST HITS of Past Times
and say ridiculous things to all around.This is why i make no promises
and resolve to merely trust moments.This one.And the next
No matter what year you say we are entering.I enter experiences-
not years.Enjoy pleasures-not fears.We are always so near to NEW
It should not take the changing of a year to involve you.
Change anyway!Start yesterday!This way today seems like tomorrow..
and NEW is just a question of perspective..
Matthew Black-New Year nearly, getting ready to see her in gently and drunkenly in oxford tra la. Have a good 'un

GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Ding Dong, Ding Dong - George Harrison

Preston Frazier’s Best of 2014 (Concerts)

No. 3 — YES, JULY 26, 2014, COPERNICUS CENTER in CHICAGO: The answer is Yes! Their latest album Heaven and Earth received mixed reviews, but there is no denying this was a Best of 2014 show. Having seen two other lead vocalists of the band, I was surprised at how effectively Jon Davison was able to revitalize the songs from Close to The Edge and Fragile. Additionally, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Alan White and Geoff Downes were able to transform the two numbers from the new album and infuse their high level of musicality into them. The tour found Yes near the height of its musical power.


CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
Union (Standard DVD)
DVD - £9.99

Union (2CD)
2CD - £7.99

Rock Of The 70's
DVD - £12.99

Rock of the 70s
DVD - £9.99

Strange Boat: Waterboys biography - Portugese review translated

http://vianocturna2000.blogspot.pt/2014/11/info-strange-boat-nova-biografia-de.html

Wednesday, November 5, 2014


Info: Strange Boat - a new biography of Mike Scott

To the satisfaction of fans around the world, the definitive biography of Mike Scott & The Waterboys , Strange Boat , is now available through Gonzo Multimedia . This biography, written byIan Abrahams , was originally published in 2007, but this is a new edition revised and updated and contains a bonus for the album with Mike Scott Mr. Yeats, first published in R2 Rock N Reel . Strange Boat portrays the twisting and winding journeys Mike Scott (The Waterboys), describing the literary and spiritual references that fill your compositions and exploring the multitude of local cultures and that The Waterboys reflect on their recordings. Everything from their first forays in the Scottish music scene in the late 1970s, until the creation of a Big Music , which culminated with the single The Whole Of The Moon , through his Irish adventure that spawned the classic Fisherman's Blues . Its constantly restless creativity led him through a myriad of changes. With its rotating cast of troubadours at his side, Mike Scott created some of the most defining albums of an era - the 80s staggered by heartlands Celtic, reinvented himself as a rocker Electric in New York, and sought personal renewal in the quiet retreat of the Scottish Findhorn spiritual mountains. Mike Scott's life has been a story of continuous musical exploration with an evolving spirituality. That is what can be found in this publication written by Ian Abrahams and the hallmark of Gonzo Multimedia .
Ian Abrahams (born 1963) is a journalist and biographer freelance . In addition to this biography of Mike Scott already wrote Hawkwind - Sonic Assassins , and with Bridget Wishart , is to brief the history of the free festivals: Festivalized: Music, Poltics & The Alternative Culture . Writes forThe Guardian , The Independent , Bass Guitar among other publications.

Captain Beefheart: Live from Paris US Review

CAPTIAN BEEFHEART & HIS MAGIC BAND – LIVE FROM LE NOUVEL HIPPODROME PARIS

October 26, 2014by Tommy HashNo Comments
Band : 
Genre : 
Label : Gonzo Multimedia
Link : http://www.beefheart.com/

Paris 1977 - cover
There is no shortage of insanity at a Captain Beefheart show, from Bongo Fury to numerous bootlegs and visual footage that has been dug up, the Zappa protégé knew how to work the audience and raise hell too the point where you didn’t know if he was preaching a death sermon or simply throwing a fit. Now as more material is surfacing from Don Van Vliet and Company, this concert, having taken place in late 1977, two years after …Fury and over a year before Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller), shows that the Captain just can’t disappoint. But as the story goes, The Magic Band at this point was beyond being The Tragic Band, but they still went beyond kicking ass with their punkish and post-avant garde stage act.
The material preached includes early goodies from the Buddah years (“Abba Zabba” & “Electricity”) to a lot of Warner/Replica-era ditties (“The Dust Blows Forward…” & “Big Eyed Beans from Venus”) to even giving us a taste of what was to come on future releases (“Owed t’Alex/Carson City” & “Bat Chain Puller”), so those fans who bought the later records could sing, or in this case howl along while dropping the needle on the wax. This two-disc collective of mutant blues is a bootleg quality, on a scale of 1-10, mainly a five, stick right down the middle, not really being able to decipher if it was either a soundboard recording or something that was captured through a decent mic/tape recorder in the midst of a good sound system; lots of tape hiss and slightly muddy. Yet that’s the only way to capture the man whom no one sounded like before and no one sounded like after; through the slide guitars, wailing sax, and vocal antics of this performance, what other way is there than to enjoy the raw lunacy.

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO:
Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver 1973
CD - £9.99

Le Nouvel Hippodrome, Paris 1977
2CD - £11.99

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem


Rob Ayling writes: 

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Tom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied with in seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not? why not indeed!!" (The wondrous poetpic is by Jack McCabe, who I hope forgives me for scribbling all over it with Photoshop)

LOOKING BACKWARDS
@a year where everything happened
exponentially -especially losses
i notice we remember those
who left last-Joe Cocker back to Joan Rivers
back to Robin Williams back to Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Memory pales over time-little icebergs stand
reminders of uniqueness-whether it be Mars cameras
Oculus Rift,Bionic Hands-our technology has become
invasive,intrusive,comprehensive while being hacked and stalking us.
Data means data theft.Drones kill civilians.Function becomes dysfunction
and accountability and control-whether over wars or police violence
has failed.Market trends focus on products not consequences
Computer waste  accelerates.New model iphones blind us
to a lack of need for endless new models-seeking a Model T that is industry standard.
"You can have every color you wish for-so long as it is black"
Kids in a digital toy store-but where is adult supervision?
I see children with iphones.Adolescents controlling drones.

How can 2015 transform life into art?

Tuesday 30 December 2014

GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: A Carrot is as Close as a Rabbit Gets To A Diamond - Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band



CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO

Don Van Vliet (born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter, artist and poet known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work..


Don Van Vliet (born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter, artist and poet known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work..

Heaven & Earth, by Yes

“Wimps,” Robert Christgau sneered, comparing them to Talking Heads — who were wimps, he proclaimed, without “vagueness or cheap romanticism.” But that was ’77; the Heads (whom I love) left us; and four Englishmen, fronted now by one renegade Seattleite, now answer the call. They stand in the context of modern Western society, which just took a few blacker-water churns. They have to make sense relative to this undertow.

Vagueness? Yes lyrics have always been riddles, but never riddles you couldn’t figure out. Cheap romanticism? I submit that romanticism runs in short supply right here, right now (’77 was maybe different times), and a commodity in short supply becomes more precious.

So when our quintet pours on peace and love, more specifically “lift your heart above the fight,” and “take me from where I am,” they acknowledge how much heavy lifting that takes at the best of times. They wrote and recorded pre-Ferguson, pre-Staten Island, but that’s how little the news that stays news changes. And you can’t call this the best of times — one important change.
Read on..

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
Union (Standard DVD)
DVD - £9.99

Union (2CD)
2CD - £7.99

Rock Of The 70's
DVD - £12.99

Rock of the 70s
DVD - £9.99

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem


Rob Ayling writes: 

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Tom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied with in seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not? why not indeed!!" (The wondrous poetpic is by Jack McCabe, who I hope forgives me for scribbling all over it with Photoshop)

NEW EAR
FAILURE OF FUTUROLOGY
From prophets through Nostradamus to the astrology newspaper columns
Your future is bent as rainbows/so much depends upon a red wheelbarrow
Symbols &auguries predict  and confuse/the possibilities of bright optimists
who  project via Resolutions,Affirmations,Clues-ways to defeat the Blues..
Edit your History and your News,so folk get used to Faux headlines-
Jetpacks?Moon base?Mission to Mars?All movies and Olympic Games toys!
What we actually get are missing Malaysian/Jet Asia Airliners
Endless Wars upon Invisible ISIS .Drones over civilian homes via Government "terrorists"
Our little lives desire A BETTER TOMORROW.We are BREATHLESS with hope
Accelerating into 4G and 5th dimensional hologram happiness
We dream unity,peace,harmony and bliss
Meanwhile,TVs fill up with more imagined"terrorists"
Which will be our future?ALL OF THIS!
What do YOU wish?

Also known as "H.G. Wells' Things to Come" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028358/

Blodwyn Pig - Pigthology


Blodwyn Pig the British rock band formed by Mick Abrahams (vocals, guitars, formerly of "Jethro Tull") Jack Lancaster (saxes, flutes, violin and wind controllers) Andy Pyle (bass), and Ron Berg (drums), have released an anthology featuring re-recorded and re-mastered recordings of the band's most beloved and successful songs "Dear Jill" "See My Way" "Drive Me" and previously unreleased materials.

Blodwyn Pig in its first form was a legend in rock history hitting the top of the LP charts in Britain and elsewhere around the world. The members received new inspiration when Cameron Crow used the recording of "Dear Jill" in his movie "Almost Famous". The original BLODWYN PIG consisted of Mick Abrahams, vocals, guitars. Jack Lancaster, sax, flutes, violin and wind controllers. Andy Pyle, bass and Ron Berg drums and was later joined by "Jethro Tull's" Clive Bunker on drums.

Many bands credit Blodwyn Pig with being a huge influence at the start of their careers. One member of Aerosmith was recently quoted in Rolling Stone as saying "there wouldn't have been an Aerosmith if there hadn't been a Blodwyn Pig" and there are many fan sites across the Internet which still attest to the band's popularity.


CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
The Basement Tapes/Lies
2CD - £9.99

The Basement Tapes
CD - £9.99

Lies
CD - £9.99

Pigthology
CD - £9.99

Monday 29 December 2014

THOM THE WORLD POET (christmas) PRESENTS: WALT WHITMAN's SAMPLER

"A Christmas Greeting" by Walt Whitman

Welcome, Brazilian brother--thy ample place is ready;
A loving hand--a smile from the north--a sunny instant hall!
(Let the future care for itself, where it reveals its troubles,
impedimentas,
Ours, ours the present throe, the democratic aim, the acceptance and
the faith;)
To thee to-day our reaching arm, our turning neck--to thee from us
the expectant eye,
Thou cluster free! thou brilliant lustrous one! thou, learning well,
The true lesson of a nation's light in the sky,
(More shining than the Cross, more than the Crown,)
The height to be superb humanity.

GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Barbara Dickson - Another Suitcase In Another Hall



CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
Winter
CD - £9.99

Che Faro
DVD - £12.99

B4 74 - The Folkclub Tapes
2CD - £11.99

Full Circle
CD - £9.99

Into The Light
DVD - £12.99

Time And Tide 
CD - £9.99

THOM THE WORLD POET (christmas) PRESENTS: BOXING DAY GIFT from 1974 - enjoy young Jon and a HAPPY NEW (poetry) EAR!

Captain Beefheart on the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1974.
youtube.com

THOM THE WORLD POET (christmas) PRESENTS: THANKS FOR GONZO 2014-long live Future Gonzo!

Track #6 from the album Clear Spot (1972)
youtube.com

VOL. 1-MEMORIES (Hugh Hopper)

Hugh Hopper: Vol. 1-MemoriesI was not to familiar with Hugh Hopper but you don’t really have to be. Memories volume 1 includes a list of works that Hopper recorded with bands he featured in, such as Soft Machine, Franglo Band, and some tunes he recorded with friends. 
 
In-between each track Hopper offers up a low-fi recorded introduction to each track. It sounds kind of pieced together, but the quality of the music is amazingly crisp and enjoyable. 
 
The album features seven tracks that I felt were a bit touch and go at first. There are some tunes in which Hopper uses a computer to generate music which is reminiscent of Walter Carlos’ work on Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange soundtrack. It’s very space age sounding and of course artificial in the mix of some great jazz fusion coming from other proper instruments. Not terrible once you come to terms with what it is. 
 
The straight organic jazz fusion tracks on the album are breathtaking. At one point, after listening to guitar on one track, the only thing that came to mind was a smashed window falling down in a chaotic fashion but hitting the ground producing musical notes that somehow managed to make sense. It’s jazz, you get what you get. 

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem


Rob Ayling writes: 

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Tom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied with in seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not? why not indeed!!" (The wondrous poetpic is by Jack McCabe, who I hope forgives me for scribbling all over it with Photoshop)

THE DAY AFTER
Talk is of DIETS and DEATHS
those who left us as we climb in to
an allegedly "New"Year.Post-Party we
ask "what WERE we celebrating?
For me-the dark,cold,quiet stillness
Sanctuary night from intrusive sound and lighting
Moments of reflection-to see the way i'm driving
Drunk on the past,leery of the Unknown
Between worlds of day and darkness
Eye steal back pools of mirrors
Ask them 'why tears?"@the missing

They do not know that they are gone..

Sunday 28 December 2014

GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: ॐ नमः शिवाय

Being Sunday I always post sacred music. The name of the deity may change, or even the deity Him/Herself but the spirit remains the same.



Om Namah Shivaya (Sanskritॐ नमः शिवायOṃ Namaḥ Śivāya) is one of the most popular Hindumantras and the most important mantra in Shaivism.
Its translation is "adoration (namas) to Śiva", preceded by the mystical syllable "Aum". Om Namah Shivaya mantra is sung by devotees in prayers and recited by yogis in meditation. It is associated with qualities of prayer, divine-love, grace, truth and blissfulness.
Traditionally, it is accepted to be a powerful healing mantra beneficial for all physical and mental ailments. Soulful recitation of this mantra brings peace to the heart and joy to the [Ātman] or Soul. Sages consider that the recitation of these syllables is sound therapy for the body and nectar for the soul [Ātman]. The nature of the mantra is the calling upon the higher self; it is the calling upon shiva, the destroyer deity, to aid in the death (destruction of ego) and rebirth achieved during meditation. This goes generally for mantras and chants to different gods, which are different aspects of the higher self.

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem


Rob Ayling writes: 

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Tom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied with in seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not? why not indeed!!" (The wondrous poetpic is by Jack McCabe, who I hope forgives me for scribbling all over it with Photoshop)

@HOBO CHRISTMAS Dec 27,2014
Of course the temporary tables groan with post-Christmas carbs
Landlord cares for trees here-he could sell like Enchanted Forest
Make millions and move on-but here be artists in metal,wood,water ,air
Once all have imbibed of eggnog with or without,soon guitars and mandolins
and drums and spoons will magically appear -and a pickers picnic begins
Old as circle,fire,stone.Older than tribe or gatherings.Point of pilgrimage.
And we have returned to  Deep South Austin-to learn and re-learn
flight paths of the free-How to Be while others are still Be-Coming..
We are right next to the tracks-art is a paddle boat steamer with a wheel made of canoe oars
Illuminations are cheaper post-Christmas,so the wall is strung gardens.
We know each other from Snake Island ,demonstrations,Gardens
We are waiting for the 6.27pm AMTRAK from Chicago to roar through
When it does,we will howl and scream out 2014,drowned by industrial noise
Traditionally,this train is always late.So it is tonight.7.14 and we hear that low growl
HERE COME DA TRAIN!We laugh and shout and cheer and howl
with not a soul to care nor hear us.Our little world grows larger

Thank you Bill Oliver-King of the Hobo(hemians! of South Austin,Tejas,2015

Hawkwind interview by It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine (2012)

THOM THE WORLD POET (christmas) PRESENTS: Post-Christmas Hangover Present!

Written and narrated by Wm. Burroughs.
Directed by Francis F.C.
Outstanding animation...check it out.
Fantastic narration by Burroughs about Danny, a poor unfortunate junkie who reveals his last remains of selflessness and humanity despite his urgent physical...
youtube.com

PETER BANKS: The Mars Tapes US press


Peter Banks Empire, "The Mars Tapes" (Gonzo Multimedia): After Yes and Flash, guitarist Banks, who passed away in 2013, recorded this material during 1979 at Mars Studios in Los Angeles, only to have them go unreleased until now.

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO:

The Mars Tapes
2CD - £11.99

Saturday 27 December 2014

GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: XTUL: The Song of Pan

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem


Rob Ayling writes: 

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Tom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied with in seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not? why not indeed!!" (The wondrous poetpic is by Jack McCabe, who I hope forgives me for scribbling all over it with Photoshop)

"WE WANT TO SING TO A BETTER ANGEL!"
With a love of wrap around stories
Wanting storytellers to ignite/delight/defy/excite us
Wishing for enchantments that both levitate and meditate
Knowing silence as a foreign language
Stepping in the WITH basket not the MAYBE
Taking Facebook's LIKE to LOVE PASSIONATELY
Connecting those dots until they become a music chart
Choruses and chorales gather and sing
One by one we flashdance our way in
to the Ordinary Mysteries-Why Birds?
Because Wings demand flight,and even sorrow is Light
to Illuminate WHAT IS into WHAT MIGHT BE-
a prayer,a chant,an anthem,a song

We are All "The Great Mystery!"

THOM THE WORLD POET (christmas) PRESENTS: HAVE A GONZO CHRISTMAS! Happy New (Poetry) Ear!


In that spirit, here is Hunter Thompson burning up his Christmas tree, while Cowboy Junkies "Trinity Sessions" plays.

BLODWYN PIG AND MORE: Nice enough to eat

Back in the late 60’s there’s wasn’t that much money going round if you were a teenager, like me.  As I was graduating from the 45 pop single to the cooler and rather expensive rock-album, times were tough.  You had to plan your investments.  As The Beatles still were my priority in 1969, that meant pain.
Almost back-to-back with “The White Album” they released the “Yellow Submarine”-soundtrack.  There were strange sounding albums from John & Yoko (“Life With The Lions” and “Wedding Album”) and George Harrison (“Electronic Sounds”).  A couple of Beatles-singles (“Get Back” and “The Ballad Of John And Yoko”), two 45s (“Give Peace A Chance” and “Cold Turkey”) and one album (“Live Peace In Toronto 1969”) from Plastic Ono Band and The Beatles’ swan song, “Abbey Road” (with another 45 to go, “Something”/”Come Together”).
In other words, I was 17, a devoted reader of the weekly New Musical Express, and in trouble.  I loved The Beatles, but I also loved all the other sounds that made 1969 such an amazing year for rock music.  Like The Who’s “Tommy”, The Moody Blues’ “On The Threshold Of A Dream”, The Nice’s “The Nice”, Pink Floyd’s “Ummagumma”, The Rolliing Stones’ “Let It Bleed”, Bob Dylan’s “Nashville Skyline”, two slices of Led Zeppelin, Cream’s “Goodbye”, Crosby, Stills & Nash’ “Crosby, Stills & Nash”, Procol Harum’s “A Salty Dog”… the list is endless.  On top of that were all the unfamiliar names found on the new and experimental labels such as Island, Harvest, Deram and eventually Vertigo.  For a 17 year old, 1969 was both heaven and hell.
But there was a way around it.  The easiest was starting a record club at school, which we did, giving me access to some of those desirable titles.  But there was a down-side to it: All of us, except Tormod, had tape recorders.  The consequence?  We didn’t actually get the record itself, Tormod did.  So even if I had the music on magnetic tape, it didn’t feel like owning the actual record.  The was no sleeve to study.
The other solution was buying second-hand.  However, you couldn’t listen to the music in those shops, you had to buy by instinct.  You quickly learned that the chance of striking gold was higher if you went for certain labels.  Them lavish gatefold sleeves didn’t hurt either.  Cover art became a value in itself and had its own super stars, Roger Dean, Keef, Hipgnosis...
The record companies were releasing so much product by now that the record stores had become a jungle.  It wasn’t enough to advertise in the music papers or hope for radio play.  And thus the sampler album was introduced.  At budget price they gave the listener a cross section of the record label’s lesser known artists and brand new hopefuls, carefully spiced with a couple of well established names.  For a couple of years these samplers were a huge success.  No wonder as you got a lot of cool music at a very cheap price.
CBS started the ball game in Europe with “The Rock Machine Turns You On”.  Island Records quickly followed suit with “You Can All Join In” in early ’69.  That album turned Jethro Tull and Free into mainstream stars.  The sampler albums were like maps and guidebooks for a trip into the unknown.  They were affordable, and if you found something you really liked, you’d go to the second-hand shop and invest in a full album by those groups.
Island’s second sampler, “Nice Enough To Eat”, released in November 1969, was of great importance to me.  Some of the performers are still among my all-time favourites, 45 years on.
King Crimson simply blew my mind.  “21st Century Schizoid Man” is the most brutal, distorted and blasting heavy piece of music I have ever heard.  Of course I had to buy their album, and to my surprise, they were not a heavy band at all, but rather masters of epic beauty.  It was love at first spin.
The riff heavy, stop-start blaster “Better By You, Better Than me”, sent me straight to the second-hand shop for Spooky Toth’s “Spooky Two”, and that album turned out to be a real classic.  “Evil woman” still rules.  Mike Harrison’s voice and Luther Grosvenor a.k.a. Ariel Bender’s guitar.  Astonishing!
The Jethro Tull spin-off band Blodwyn Pig was another winner, and who could resist that pink sleeve with the pig’s head wearing ear phones and shades on and smoking a spliff?  Jethro Tull I already knew, as the record club at school had bought the wonderful “Stand Up”-album back in August, the pop-up sleeve now resting on Tormod’s record shelf.
Read on...

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
The Basement Tapes/Lies
2CD - £9.99

The Basement Tapes
CD - £9.99

Lies
CD - £9.99

Pigthology
CD - £9.99
...BECAUSE SOME OF US THINK THAT THIS STUFF IS IMPORTANT
What happens when you mix what is - arguably - the world's most interesting record company, with an anarchist manic-depressive rock music historian polymath, and a method of dissemination which means that a daily rock-music magazine can be almost instantaneous?

Most of this blog is related in some way to the music, books and films produced by Gonzo Multimedia, but the editor has a grasshopper mind and so also writes about all sorts of cultural issues which interest him, and which he hopes will interest you as well.