On some of these tracks, Trythall manages to make them sound nearly authentic in terms of having a C&W vibe–Foggy Mountain Breakdown nearly fools you into thinking there’s a real violin (sorry, fiddle) playing. Almost. The version of Floyd Cramer’s Last Date wouldn’t be that hard to translate–it sounds almost out of place here because it’s so…normal.

The version of Gentle On My Mind wouldn’t sound odd at all on an Italian Star Wars rip-off movie soundtrack…but I can’t help going back to that cover of Folsom Prison Blues–worth the price of the entire record.

This is a WTF album of the highest caliber. Country Moog — Switched On Nashville can’t be dismissed, it demands to be heard in all it’s effing bizarre glory. VCP is an awesomely mutated accomplishment!

No, I haven’t got a damn CLUE what’s going on with this album cover. But isn’t that the best part? Trying to guess what was going through the minds of the people responsible for this is half the fun! See if you can guess what kind of record this is by looking at the album cover–no fair researching it on Google you cheaters! Is this 70s-era hard rock? Experimental farm animal acapella? Brian Eno-inspired ambient drones with an emphasis on medical jargon?

Nope. Wrong on all fronts. Take a listen to this via the clip below and marvel at how totally disconnected that cover is when viewed  while listening to the actual music. Whaaaaaaat?

Turntabling quietly released the first issue of WTF Records: The Turntabling Guide to Weird and Wonderful Vinyl for sale on Etsy last week. The first issue, along with issue #2 will also be available for purchase at the Turntabling booth at our appearances at Capricon 32, Horrorhound Weekend, Cinema Wasteland, and Days of the Dead Atlanta.

The zine–which is NOT a replacement for the WTF Records book, which is now in the photography stage–was up for sale for about 24 hours before it was getting orders and, a little bit later, positive reviews like the one at One Minute Zine Reviews, who had really nice things to say about Issue One.

And while we’re talking about One Minute Zine Reviews, if you’re into indie press pubs, zines and the like, OMZR is a really well done labor of love that also features a radio version–the first time I’ve ever heard of zine reviews being done on the air and syndicated to boot! Great stuff indeed.

So the cat is out of the bag–Turntabling has gone into print with our WTF Records zine, which is a supplement to the site and features exclusive, print-only content not found here or at our Facebook page.

Many thanks to One Minute Zine Reviews for all the kind words, and if you are a zine publisher and want to submit your zine for consideration at One Minute Zine Reviews, send all material to DJ Frederick at 36 West Main Street Warner NH 03278 USA.

As always thanks for reading…

–Joe Wallace

Naturally, I went out in search of other weirdness along similar lines. How many people out there are sweatin’ for Jesus, or at least WERE doing so when this nonsense came out? Apparently, a lot of them.

This was clearly part of the fad that raged through right-wing circles back in the 80s, when people were trying to establish a born-again subculture for EVERYTHING, including death metal and exercise routines. The notion that these things were being done by and for right-wingers made them “OK” to enjoy. It was a brilliant bit of marketing–the implication that born-again Christians might be doing something wrong unless they were spending their money on other right-wingers.

See, back in the 80s and part of the 9os, there were a lot of people in evangelical Christendom who were trying to sell people on the idea that religious people shouldn’t listen to “secular music”, as in, anything not performed by a sweaty born-again rightie. Again, BRILLIANT marketing as there was an up-and-coming Christian music industry that badly needed the sales…hence you get cultural oddities like this that fell in with that sort of thinking. “Don’t buy THEIR evil aerobics videos with that dirty old SECULAR music, buy OURS with this nice, clean whitebread model on the cover and boring by-the-numbers religious rock instead.”

I’d like to thank/curse BizarreRecords.com for this truly bizarre sonic oddity which might just be my favorite weirdo record discovery of the week (aside from the Traveling Torture Show record mentioned here earlier.)

OK, I’ll admit it–a lot of times when I find WTF records, I feel what I consider to be an appropriate rising contempt–sexist, racist, clueless and just plain crass album covers give me a big ol’ dose of bile. But when I found THIS and listened to the accompanying MP3, I could not help falling in love with this insane, misguided-but-fun record.

It doesn’t hurt that the track was recorded well, actually performed with skill and a sense of humor about itself that’s quite lacking on a lot of southern-friend gospel albums. You could EASILY hear this playing in the background of your favorite 70s drive-in exploitation car chase movie.

And that’s the part that I curse BizarreRecords.com for–once this gets heard, it will be stuck in your damn head for several hours, a brainworm that refuses to die. You WILL hear this guy yodeling for Jesus in your head tonight. I PROMISE you.

And now you get to SHARE MY PAIN. Just listen once and you’re infected.