The Liner Note

[blissblogger]

As well as bigging up the Raincoats here, Cobain also wrote a nice note for the first-time-on-CD reissue of The Raincoats's debut album in '93 (and presumably his enthusiasm and clout led to it coming on DGC, Nirvana's record label):

FROM A STOWAWAY IN AN ATTIC
I know a lot of coolies who suck and feed off the fact that they know about and (supposedly) enjoy unknown, obscure band of present and past. These coolies thrive on their own little discoveries like those tiny fish who attach themselves to bigger fish and parasitically feed off the hosts' droppings and burnt coffee.

The Raincoats were not very well known in the States - I don't know about the U.K. and Europe. In fact, I don't really know anything about The Raincoats except that they recorded some music that has affected me so much that, whenever I hear it I'm reminded of a particular time in my life when I was (shall we say) extremely unhappy, lonely, and bored. If it weren't for the luxury of putting that scratchy copy of The Raincoats' first record, I would have had very few moments of peace. I suppose I could have researched a bit of history about the band but I feel it's more important to delineated the way I feel and how they sound.

When I listen to The Raincoats I feel as if I'm a stowaway in an attic, violating and in the dark. Rather than listening to them I feel like I'm listening in on them. We're together in the same old house and I have to be completely still or they will hear me spying from above and, if I get caught - everything will be ruined because it's their thing.

They're playing their music for themselves. It's not as sacred as wire-tapping a Buddhist monk's telephone or something because if The Raincoats really did catch me, they would probably just ask me if I wanted some tea. I would comply, then they would finish playing their songs and I would say thank you very much for making me feel good.

- Kurt Cobain, June 1993
,

 

[blissblogger]

Robert Fripp manifesto for Let The Power Fall - appeared on back cover but also on a postcard given away with the LP

 

[rubberdingyrapids]

box sets provide a bit too much space for liner notes (well essays really). i bought the prince super deluxe reissue and actively hate a good half of the essays in that book (its actually a massively padded out book, not even a booklet).

 

[william_kent]

they just don't write them like this anymore

COMIN' DOWN ON YOU is exactly where the contents of this album and Debbie Taylor are. She is a beautiful human being, holding nothing back - giving it all - FOR ALL - those who are as opened as she is - those who she will bring alive! She is a Black experience you will want to know and live with, Don't hold anything back - 'cause she don't! So get yourself ready for Debbie Taylor/COMIN' DOWN ON YOU ......with love!

A Friend​

from


Debbie Taylor - Too Sad To tell ( 1972 )

( best track on the album, "Debbie Taylor - Comin' Down On You" )

 

[william_kent]

great sleeve notes on this recently released fantastic all percussion album

for instance:


Doudou Ndiaye Rose Family - Ceebu Jen

A traditional rhythm but also the name of a Sengalese dish of rice and fish. It used to be danced by women only but nowadays everyone can dance on it. Men wait on this rhythm to dance and make masculine gestures. Like the ardin, the ceebu jen is a must. The dancers expect this rhythm.

Doudou Ndiaye Rose Family - Farwu Jar

It means 'the beloved'. This is a traditional rhythm. The male dancers threw their hats and the girls got up to choose a hat. It was a kind of game but sometimes it ended in a wedding. It is played during the sabar - a rather feminine rhythm - and also at tanibeer.

killer album!

 

[william_kent]

I went on a day trip recently to some "regional town" and was commanded by my companion to scour the shelves of the charity shops ( she's understanding like that ) and I picked up this album for £1 ( a bargain - features remixes by the man himself, exclusive to the UK release )



Barry White - Greatest Hits ( 1975 )

Mrs White provides some heartfelt sleeve notes which cleverly incorporate the majority of the song titles:

In the beginning God said "Let there be Light" and there was Light.
Now there has come another Great Time that the world has been waiting for.
I knew the day would come when all his talents would be combined into one, such as writing, arranging, producing and his singing ability. Also his great touch and feel for his various musical instruments he plays.
Yes, the day I'm talking about is this day, that Barry White hits the nation with his Greatest Hits album.
Which brings me to think of our beginning. We knew that we had something very beautiful and sacred. Something that was very special to us. The love that we have for each other. This love was so great that he felt we should share it with someone else.
He said "Givin' up ain't no use, you couldn't help yourself if you wanted to. You're hung-up, no doubt, and so on in love, there was no way out." So in his destination came his first recording, "I'm Gonna Love You, Just A Little More Baby."
The love we share, so precious, so new, makes me so thankful that "I Found Someone" like you.
He couldn't tell me enough, just how he felt, knowing our love just couldn't be helped. He told me more than once "I've got So Much To Give" to you my dear, it's gonna take a lifetime, it's gonna take years. He said, "I'm Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" 'cause I "Can't Get Enough" of your love.
Barry says this is "Just Another Way To Say I Love You.". If I lost your love - "What Am I Gonna Do."
Yes, I'm Mrs Barry White and through "Barry White's Greatest Hits" we would like the world to know the love we share.
Because Barry is "My First, My Last, My Everything."
With all my love, Glodean B. White.

A friend of mine once tried to chat up a girl by talking about the low budget badly dubbed kung-fu films he'd watched recently, and when he was met with a blank uncomprehending stare he proceeded to expound on the genius of Barry White... he went to bed alone

Barry's autobiography is amazing - a tale of a juvenile delinquent, car thieving, gang banger achieving the status of lurrrv God through the power of soul

 

[william_kent]

Sometimes the serpent of the devil is so strong, it takes the bodyheat of God to keep him away. So do good, think good and you'll be good to your fellow man - and to all humanity.

Listen to this album -. Not only will the spiritual feeling get to you, but the 'groove' will too.

Undying Dedication to You,
JAMES BROWN
(With the feeling of a new beginning...A New Sound!)

 

[william_kent]

Sleeve notes to "Zodiac - Disco Alliance":

When the first album of a new rock group is released, it more often than
not is a significant event for the budding musicians themselves but
also for all the impatient people looking forward to some brand-new and
unheard of sound that could be recorded onto their tape machines and
featured at their discotheques. it usually attracts notice and raises hope. But
will the hope prove right! It may or may not, but it seems this time -
in the case of the first LP by ZODIAC entitled <<Disco Alliance - there is certain
ground for optimism.
Both the name of the group and the music it plays rivet the attention and
stimulate imagination. This is music for the present day youngsters, music
that can be enjoyed in several different ways: while listening alone immersed
in fantasies; as music for dancing, or, quite simply, as music resounding in
the background. Its incessant rythmic pulsation, captivating tone-colours
and sound effects of electronic instruments, the unpretentious and plain
melodic patterns being sometimes cosmically unreal and transient [ = Mirage=, =Zodiac=],so-
metimes even grotesque and full of vim [=Rock On The Ice=, =Polo=].
Such is music for young people, created by the young people. Members
of the group are not over twenty-one yet. They are students of the Jazeps
Vitols Latvian State Conservatory. The leader of ZODIAC Janis Lusens studies
at the department of composition ( Prof. J. Ivanov's class ). He plays elec-
tronic keyboards and arranges his own compositions. The budding piano
player Zane Griva also in the frame work of this group plays mostly piano.
Andris Reinis ( percussion ) and Ainars Aimanis (bass guitar) study at the
department of wind instruments. The guitarist Andris Silis is mastering the
secrets of bass playing at the Conservatory.
The professional aptitude of these five music makers is very promising, it
comes through in the compositional make-up of their musical works, the skill
of playing various instruments, apprehension of style and overall unanimity.
Creatively rehashing the world's best achievements in this field, through
drive and common effort they have succeeded in being the first in the USSR
to put music of this kind on record. It alone is proof enough of a promising
start.
Where to go from here is a question the members of the group are pondering
over already now.

A. ERMANBRIKS
Editor, Latvian IV​

I can't tell if the liner note author A. ERMANBRIKS actually likes this record ( phrases like "certain ground for optimism" indicate he is unsure if they have a future, "unpretentious and plain melodic patterns" seems a wee bit snide if you ask me, while "Creatively rehashing the world's best achievements in this field" makes me wonder: is he passive-aggressively accusing ZODIAC of ripping people off? )

last year while I was buying up all the DDR "electronics" records that I could find at Musikhaus Kietz in Leipzig the very helpful guy at the counter quickly figured out my taste and handed me this record - in fact he yanked off the tune that he was playing on the shop stereo and stuck this album on instead, resulting in an instant buy from me


Zodiac - Pacific ( 1980 )

Latvian cosmic disco!

(almost achieves "proto house" status due to the combination of the bass line and those keyboard runs at the approx 3 mins + mark, imho.. )

edit: I've ended up contributing to the kickstarter to crowdfund the next Zodiac album... should be out later this year....

 

[IdleRich]

Zodiac - Pacific ( 1980 )

Latvian cosmic disco!

(almost achieves "proto house" status due to the combination of the bass line and those keyboard runs at the approx 3 mins + mark, imho.. )

edit: I've ended up contributing to the kickstarter to crowdfund the next Zodiac album... should be out later this year....

Liza has at least one of their albums (how many did they do?) which she nicked off her dad but she was unsure as to whether they were from Latvia or Lithuania.
But if you like that sound she did a mix years back of about thirty soviet sort of disco bands that sound exactly like that.

 

[william_kent]

she was unsure as to whether they were from Latvia or Lithuania.

It seems as though I am unsure as well - last month I picked up their second album at Whispers, another good record shop in Leipzig, and I was happily informing the guy behind the guy behind the counter, "yeah, they're from Lithuania"

They got one of the band to write the liner notes for the second album, so there isn't any of A. ERMANBRIKS' snark on display. I've only listened to the album twice but it seems like this is maybe the best track, although I may revise that opinion in the future:


Zodiac - Mysterious Galaxy

 

[william_kent]

But if you like that sound she did a mix years back of about thirty soviet sort of disco bands that sound exactly like that

link?

there was some youtube channel that had a load of Iron Curtain synth disco tunes and I did add some to my discogs wantlist but it was years ago, so hopefully Lizatron's mix might jog my my memory...

 

[IdleRich]

link?

there was some youtube channel that had a load of Iron Curtain synth disco tunes and I did add some to my discogs wantlist but it was years ago, so hopefully Lizatron's mix might jog my my memory...

She is gonna dig it out

 

[IdleRich]

She is gonna dig it out

 

[william_kent]

I was hoping @bunnyhausen might chip in with some Iron Curtain Kosmische Disco as well..

hint, hint

 

[luka]

theres not a single 'note' listed here that doesnt demean and diminish the music referred to

 

[william_kent]

theres not a single 'note' listed here that doesnt demean and diminish the music referred to

not even Barry White's missus ? She basically compares Barry's greatest hits album to the GOD saying "let there be light":

In the beginning God said "Let there be Light" and there was Light.
Now there has come another Great Time that the world has been waiting for.

i.e, Barry White's greatest hits album

 

[william_kent]

tip!

recommended

Lizatron is on fire

not sure what Chloe* had to do with it, other than interrupt the flow, but whatever...

* have I burned my bridges with nts? I have to remember not to be honest on the internet, because otherwise some "creator`' will tell you to go fuck yourself just because you ventured an opinion...

 

[william_kent]

there was one tune in that Lizatron mix by a band called "Omega"...

on my last visit to the former DDR I came across one of their albums in several record shops and each time I pulled it out and showed my companion the cover and we both laughed;



but in another shop i saw this album by them:



and I was almost tempted, because:


but I didn't buy it because I had seen the previous album cover and now I'm wondering because of that Lizatron mix : "did I make a mistake?"

 

[william_kent]

this is one album I did buy on my last trip to Dresden ( I'll skip the boring story about the grumpy guy behind the counter for brevity's sake ):



p. r. computer ( 1983 0

minimal sleeve notes:

The recording was made with the MUZIX81 computer music system

you may ask "what's the MUZIX81 computer music system"?

let "tooyyss", some random discogs punter expand:

The members of P.R. Computer (ex-Pantha Rhei*), were developed the MUZIX-computer system. It was based on the ZX-81 personal computer but with the special hardware add-ons. 3 Hardware options were exist: 1- Sequencer: with the song-writing program you could drive some analog synthesizers through the digital to CV/gate-out converters. 2- Sampler! It was a flexible, graphics-design, 8-bit sampler VERY much ahead of the time while there was only the Fairlight (for ca. 80 000 USD, and Emulator for ca. 18 000 USD around and the incredible expensive Synclavier sampling option offered more or less the same features for ten thousands of USD). 3- Digital effectprocessor. Virtually almost all the electronic-based pop-music in Hungary were made with the help of these systems even till much after the MIDI (sequencing) were invented. These infos are not to be forgotten, because there's nothing left about these ultrarare machines! Digital and analog? Best of both wordls: Crispy-precisely sequenced tracks due to the computer-driven sequencer. The accuracy can never be achieved with any analog sequencers of RC-oscillators (despite of the belief of some analog purists). Yet analog only synthesizers are present as: Moog IIIc, Korg PS-3200, ARP-2600...

pretty fucking amazing to be honest: fairlight sounds on a ZX-81?

Operating system	Sinclair BASIC[4]
CPU	Z80 @ 3.25 MHz[4]
Memory	1 KB (64 KB max. 56 KB usable)[4]
Storage	External Compact Cassetterecorder at a claimed 250 bps[4]or an average 300 bps[5]
Display	Monochrome display on UHF television[4]
Graphics	24 lines × 32 characters or 64 × 48 pixels graphics mode[4]
Power	9V DC[4]
Dimensions	167 millimetres (6.6 in) wide by 175 millimetres (6.9 in) deep[6]
Mass	350 grams (12 oz)[4]
Predecessor	ZX80

p. r. computer - Ultraibolya ( 1983 )

* I've posted a Panta Rhei tune before ( in the "fush" thread ):


Panta Rhei - Alles fliesst (1973)

DDR fuzz breaks! OST ROCK!

( basically what I said on my previous post on the fush thread... )

edit: the eponymous Panta Rhei LP is one of the harder to find albums on the DDR state owned record label, AMIGA, and I stupidly paid "big money" for a vinyl copy which hasn't arrived yet, but when I ordered it I also drunkenly accidentally ordered a CD version as well which arrived yesterday but I haven't got around to playing it yet... note to self: do not click "buy" after cracking open the rum

edit: oh, I get it now: P = Panta and R = Rhei....and Computer = ZX81

 

[IdleRich]

theres not a single 'note' listed here that doesnt demean and diminish the music referred to

An art in itself... I guess that's why they call it criticism