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Ghosts of Jam Bands Past
The Bevis Frond and Woronzow Records

Something Old, Something New, Some Things That Sound A Lot Like Neue!

Here it is the article that I have been promising to write for the last three months. This month, Ghosts of Jambands Past features several wonderful bands and musicians from New Zealand, Germany, and the United States. The bands profiled this month are a true testament that psychedelic and progressive music is still alive and well today.

The Bevis Frond and Woronzow Records

The Bevis Frond, a.k.a. Nick Salomon (sometimes Fred Bison), is a man whose music many of you have probably already heard, but didn't know it. He seems to be Mary Lou Lord's (indie pop sensation) favorite cover artist. On her first full length album she covers the Bevis Frond's "Lights are Changing" and "He'd Be a Diamond." "Lights are Changing" is that wonderfully catchy tune that is played ad nauseum in Borders bookstores across the nation. No matter how much you like Miss Lord's version, I must insist that she does not do it justice and the original kicks Mary Lou's ass across the nation.

Nick Salomon formed the Woronzow label in London as a vehicle to produce his own music. Working under the guise of the Bevis Frond, Salomon, writes, produces, records, and plays all the instruments on almost all his albums. His work does not stop there. Salomon has extended his label to feature the work of other musicians he likes and is always involved in some aspect of the recording or production of all the Woronzow releases. Nick Salomon is rather prolific, he, himself insists that song writing is never a problem for him, and the Woronzow catalogue is proof of his creative spirit. To the novice the Woronzow catalogue may seem a bit intimidating and confusing so the following are a few albums I consider to be some of Salomon's best work:

1. The Woronzow Sampler: This is a good place to start if you are interested in Salomon's music and the sounds of some of the other bands he has worked with. It features the work of the Flyte Reaction, the Parthenogenic Brotherhood, the Von Trap Family, Outskirts of Infinity, Ectomorph, Room 13, Mick Wills and others. Ths is a good album if you are looking to try something different, but don't know exactly what you are looking for. The songs range from beautiful, to psychedelic and trippy, to downright weird.

2. Acid Jam: Nick Salomon produced this album. Side one features the Outskirts of Infinity with Nick on bass and side two is the Parthenogenic Brotherhood with the Bevis Frond. "Long Journey into Light" sticks out on this album, a very beautiful song indeed.

3. Bevis Frond: "In a Marshland": Side two is very very heavy. "Termination Station Grey" makes me feel all sorts of fuzzy inside.

4. Bevis Frond: "Tryptych": My favorite album and the one that started it all for me. Features the smash hit "Lights are Changing" as well as, "Genuine Machine", and "Tangerine Infringement Beak." Salomon plays everything on all three, he even harmonizes with himself and there is a nice little interlude before "Lights are Changing" where his daughter shows off her percussive skills. The vocals are fantastic, the harmonies make me melt, and the emotion that this man creates with a guitar is really impressive.

5. Bevis Frond: "Bevis Through the Looking Glass": A very heavy double album. Has both long and short songs and features some studio "extras".

6. Bevis Frond: "Ear Song": The B side features 20 minutes of live material recorded in Copenhagen where the Bevis has a band backing him. Features Nick Salomon and Rod Good way on guitars, Adrian Shaw on bass, and Martin Crowley of the Von Trap Family on drums.

7. Fred Bison V: "Beat Roots": Nick Salomon's alter ego. He writes and plays all the music himself. Speaking of this album Salomon states that, "the Fred Bison V stuff seems to be more garagey, Vox Continentally, organny end of what the Bevis Frond is, and while you might find some garagey stuff, Farfisa-ish stuff performed by the Bevis Frond, you probably won't find any deep, meaningful, histrionic love songs performed by Fred Bison." (taken from an interview by McMuffin off of the Ptolemiac Terrascope website).

8. Bevis Frond: "New River Head": This begins a string of double albums and may be his best work yet. This album features the long, jamming, "Miskatonic Variations II", and the quiet, but beautiful, "God Speed You to Earth."

9. Bevis Frond: "Super Seeder": Side one is classic Bevis. Andy Shaw plays bass, Barry Watts and Nick Salomon on guitars, and Andy Ward of Caravan plays drums.

10. Bevis Frond: "Son of Walter": Written, produced, and played by Nick Salomon, this album is a tribute to Nick's late father. The songs are deep and emotional, very beautiful and introspective.

11. "Nick and Nick and the Psychotic Drivers": This album is described as "tripping in a dark room with only one light bulb." It is a pure psychedelic album recorded in Firenze, Iotaly in 1988 and released on Contempo Records.

As if the music on these albums is not enticing enough, the packaging is amazing. If you are a collector of vinyly, I highly recomment that you pick these albums up. Almost all are available on CD through mail order. You won't find much of this stuff written up in the mainstream press which may be one of the reasons that Nick Salomon has also created his own magazine, "The Ptolemiac Terrascope." In it he reviews and critiques artists and bands that he enjoys, and discusses the works on the Woronzow label. Much of Woronzow's business is conducted through mail order via the magazine.

Apparently the word is out on Mr. Salomon. When "Ptolemiac Terrascope" began it gave away free seven inches with each issue, now with issue number 25 you get a free CD featuring the work of: Mick Hutchinson, The Well Water Conspiracy, Sub Pop's own, Zumpano, Country Joe NcDonald and the Bevis Frond, The Kitchen Cynics, and more. All produced by Salomon, some live tracks included. At this time "Ptolemiac Terrascope" is offering a free CD from the Little Wing of REfugees catalogue with your subscription. A nice offer indeed.

The Little Wing of Refugees

The Little Wing of Refugees is a label founded by a husband and wife team from Germany who are dedicated to the reissueing of lost psychedelic and progressive music. They feature releases from Necronomicon, DalCapo, Anigma, and the Human Instinct. Not only are most of these releases rare, but the packaging is the best I have ever scene. Almost all the albums are gatefold with beautiful artwork on the inner and outer sleeves. Almost all come with booklets or some kind of inserts. Two of their biggest reissues include:

1. Necronomicon: Originally was produced as one LP, but Little Wing put together a 4 LP package that contains studio as well as live recordings. The music is very dark and heavy. If you are looking for something out of the ordinary, this is it.

2. The New Zealand band, The Humnan Instinct: A power trio featuring the guitar stylings of Billy T. K. a Maori Indian. His sound is very reminiscent of Clapton and Beck. Billy left the band to discover his Maori roots and got together with a group of musicians who were all Maori Indians and formed Powerhouse.

For those who are fans of Little Wing's efforts, but have not figured out the numerical system they have devised to classify a band's country of origin, this may help:

1 - German
2 - British
3 - American
4 - New Zealand
5 - Denmark

Almost all of these albums are not available in record stores. You will have to go through the few mail order catalogues that carry them (see bottom of article).

The Texas/Indiana Psychedelic Scene

I don't know what they are putting in the water in Texas, but whatever it is, it has inspired groups of musicians to make some terrific music. The Texas scene seems to center around the VDO Studios in Dallas and the Aether Record label in Indianapolis. Everybody seems to be either working at this studio or on this label. The production and engineering stems from the team of Matt Castille and Eric Lumbleau. This music is so Krautrock inspired sometimes it is hard to tell the difference.

The first five Aether releases are as follows:

1. The Vas Deferens organization; "Saturation": The fourth song on Side A is called "Amon Doo and Popol Poo." If that isn't wearing your Krautrock inspiration on your sleeve, then I don't know what is. Everything is arranged and played by Castille and Lumbleau except for the guitars and sitar which are credited to Jim Edgerton. A very Neue! inspired album.

2. Reissue of an earlier album by Mazinga Phaser called "Cruising in the New Glories of the New American Night": Released earlier on a private label in Texas, Aether reissued this to get it out to the masses. For this we thank them. This album sounds a lot like early Amon Duul. It is highly percussive, but there is a horn player, who (IMHO), sticks his nose in at the wrong times. The album comes out of VDO Studios, was recorded and mixed by Castille and Lumbleau. It is a five piece band, with a sixth member, the trumpet player. It is a very trippy, fucked up album. Song titles include: "Ling Ling and Pepper", "Glass of Glycerine", and "Third Arm." It is very safe to say that with this album, the song titles are a very telling indication of what the music sounds like.

3. Out of Indianapolis the band, Tombstone Valentine, gives us, "Hidden World": Richelle Toombs is the frontwoman of the band. She has a nice voice and her vocals are pleasant to listen to. The band thanks Stan Denski and Ray Pierle in their credits. Both are very big in the Indianapolis scene. Pierle most notably for his work with the band McKay. Tombstone Valentine improvises all of side two, not unlike the way early Amon Duul used to go into the studio and let the tape roll. Another highly percussive album.

4. "In the Summer of the Mushroom Honey": An album put out by a sort of supergroup formed by Stan Denski. Richelle Toombs akes lead vocals while Denski plays guitar and produces. "I am Aware of My Heart" is a song that sounds very much like the Brian Eno/David Byrne collaboration, "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts." This is really one of the main songs on the album. Richelle mainly reads aloud from the book, "Living Buddha, Living Christ" by Thich Nhat Hanh (an awesome book BTW), and an 1844 edition of John Calvin's "Institution of the Christian Religion" that she found on the floor of the basement they were recording in.

5. Vas Deferen's Organization second album is two LPs played at 45 RPM. It is five songs with a few more local musicians rounding out the group, including Dave Fargasan. Side one's "Pong Craft" is very Neue-ish. It is all keyboards with no guitars. Songs two and three, "Effortless Pilgrimage Against Ashes" and "It was Just Moments Prior to Descent" are as outrageous as they sound. Side D is really the show piece of the album with the song "Zyzzbaloubah." It consists of three parts a) "Marigold Jello, b) "A Drowsy Orange, and c) "Ache." Richelle sings sounds, not words. This is one to get fuzzy to.

Also from Texas, but not on the Aether label. is the band Ohm, whose album o2 is very impressive, but slightly different. Doug Ferguson plays bass, Nathan Brown, bass and a moog, Chris Forrest, bass and soprano clarinets, and Forrest Ward plays the saxophone. The guitar does not exist on this album. It was recorded at VDO Studios and produced and engineered by Castille and Lumbleau. All songs were written by Ohm.

Matt Castille and David Fargason got together and formed the Skill Crabe Collektiv label (note the German spelling), which puts out albums by the band they call Muz. The music is so far out there that the more you listen to it, the better it sounds.

In Indianapolis, Stan Denski put together a group of musicians called "Many Bright Things" and released an album on Ohr Records (used to be the name of a German label that put out all the original Krautrock bands). Ray Piere makes an appearance playing guitars with Stan on this album.

There are just a few other bands from Texas worth mentioning:

1. Ultrasound: They have two albums "Analogic" and "Loom." A very spacey band.

2. 26: Have a double album called "The Skin is Rust." They specialize in long meandering 23 minute long songs that are seamless.

3. Tely: On Womb Tunes Records. Create very pretty acoustic and electric numbers.

4. ST 37: Probably the most Krautrock inspired band of them all. Their album, "Space Age" is fantastic. It is released on Black Widow Records in Italy. They cover "Vitamin C" by Can and do a pretty damn good job of it! The album is dedicated to the late Robert Calvert of Hawkwind and Damon Edge of Chrome. The band proceeds to cover Hawkwind's "Origin Accumulator" and Chrome's "March of the Chrome Police." The "Story of Heather Catherine Talchief" is supposed to be a real story about a Native American woman who stole s million dollars and then went on the run with it. If anyone has any information about this story please let me know. Admittedly, their second album, "Secret Society" has yet to find its way onto my turntable. From what I hear it is really a great follow up. I highly recommend this band.

Where to Go to Get the Goods

If you are interested in getting more information on any of the Bevis FRond's and Woronzow's release, feel free to conact the following:

Ptolemiac Terrascope
37 Sandridge Road
Melksham
Wiltshire SN12 7 BQ
England

on the net at: www.terrascope.org or email at Ptolemy@terrascope.org

For Little Wing releases, the following to mail order catalogues specialize in the hard to get stuff:

Forced Exposure Records
PO Box 9102
Waltham, MA 02254-9102

Eclipse Records
2172 Sierra Santiago
Bullhead City, AZ 86442
phone: 502-763-7607 ed@eclipse-records.com www.eclipse-records.com

For the wonderful Texas/Indiana scene:

VDO Studios
3612 Commerce Street, Suite 101
Dallas, TX 75226

Aether Records
PO Box 19553
Indianapolis, IN 46219

Be sure and tell them where you heard about their music!!!!

All other questions, comments, and complaints can be addressed to me at mchimato@ic.sunysb.edu