Chris and Cosey, John Lacey: Elemental 7 Soundtrack

For Sale, Vinyl Finds, , , , , ,

This is a rare vinyl record released on Cabaret Voltaire’s Doublevision label back in the 80s. The soundtrack to a Doublevision video of the same name, Elemental 7 features Chris and Cosey and John Lacey performing as CTI, Creative Technology Institute.

Lots of analog synth action going on here, with dialog and other vocal sampling going on with tracks like Meeting Mr. Evans. The music won’t shock fans of Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle, Coil, and the likes, but for me, the real draw for this record is in both its cross-pollenation with Cabaret Voltaire and the fact that it’s for intents and purposes an archive of material that no longer exists.

The masters for this release have since been destroyed due to poor storage. The sounds were saved from oblivion at the last moment for a CD reissue of a set of projects on Conspiracy International, but this album is the OG release–an artifact of original multi-track tapes that have given up the ghost.

Check out this sample from the album. “Meeting Mr. Evans” is definitely something I would have been attracted to then, and still am now. I’ve always had a soft spot for this sort of thing, which is why anything released on Doublevision has my full attention–even when it’s not that great overall, there’s still a certain quality about the material that keeps me coming back for more.

(and yes, I do have a copy of Elemental 7: The Original Soundtrack for sale on Etsy.com, for FAR CHEAPER than it is selling from other people on places like Discogs.com where this record is listed for upwards of $70 or more. Yowza.)

–Joe Wallace



Sun Ra Plays the Batman Theme?

For Sale, WTF?, , , , , , , , ,

Of all the vinyl finds I’ve had lately, one of the most surreal has to be this French repressing of this Batman and Robin album, complete with the Batman theme.

Re-issued by Klimt Records years ago in France, this record brought in some serious firepower as session musicians, namely members of the Al Kooper Blues Project and the Sun Ra Arkestra including Sun Ra himself on the Hammond B3. The original album gives no clue to the super-session nature of the album, but Klimt sets the record straight with a complete roster of players on the back cover.

That roster included Sun Ra, Al Kooper, Steve Katz, Pat Patrick, Marshall Allan, Danny Kalb and others.

According to blogger Ryan Masteller at Critical Masses, at least one of those players truly hated doing the sessions. Maybe they were underpaid, or had an angry martinet type running the show, or perhaps they were forced to do the music wearing tights and cowls? We may never know.

I’d never heard of this until I spotted it in the bins a few weeks ago. I was so amazed that I had to grab one. The album is a cash-in, made during the Adam West Batman period.

What’s really funny about that to me, at least where the actual Batman theme song is concerned, is that when you watch the end credits of any Batman episode, when they get to the music portion, there is a LYRICS credit.

Yes, somebody actually got paid to come up with “Batmaaaan. Da-da da-da- da-da-da….(repeat until your face falls off)…BAT MAAAAAAANNNNNNN”

But back to the record. The musicians are credited on the cover as “Dan and Dale”. On the flip side, the French pressing reveals that it’s actually Sun Ra and various other names (something not found on the original, heh).

All things considered, this is one super-oddball find and while some uber-collectors are no doubt tapping their foot and clucking at me finding this only years after the fact, collectors be damned. You take the weirdness where you can find it. I was quite pleased to score this and nominate it for “most mind-bending vinyl find of the month”. Sun Ra and Batman. It doesn’t come any further out of left field than that.

(Side note–I do have a copy of the Sun Ra Plays Batman & Robin on auction at eBay. When it’s gone, it’s gone!)

–Joe Wallace

Electronic Sadism: A Chicago Compilation

For Sale, Media, Turntabling Records, , , , , , , , ,

Turntabling Records is at it again–this time with a brain-shreddingly unusual compilation of Chicago electronic music projects by Paisley Babylon, Savior Noise, Thelema USA, Satan’s Tea Boy and other acts featured on Electronic Sadism: A Chicago Compilation.

That link takes you to the 20-track iTunes download version of the album, but there is also a limited edition 12-song sampler available for sale on compact disc. The CD version is limited to a run of 500 and is completely hand-assembled. No more than 500 will be made and sold.

The 12 tracks available on the CD sampler are a strange mixture of Coil, Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire and Skinny Puppy textures. There are vintage-era industrial and ambient sounds combined with soundtrack-esque interludes, mellow meanderings, and nearly hallucinatory side-trips. But the ghost of the Marquis de Sade is always lurking nearby to bring you back to attention with a sonic blast of fury and chaos.

The packaging for this CD special edition is deceptively LP-sized, right down to a poly outer sleeve.  But make no mistake, this is a compact disc full of electronics, evil and doubt (as Brian Eno would say). Going from wildly chaotic to strangely danceable, Electronic Sadism is a great birthday gift for the old-school industrial music fan in your life. Anybody who wishes for the good old days of Throbbing Gristle and Test Department should have a listen to this.

Have a free listen to the download-only track “Speaker Damage Guaranteed” from the digital version of Electronic Sadism or listen to the final track on the limited-edition Electronic Sadism CD by Thelema USA, “Robes Off”

Chicago Urban Art Society Warehouse Junkies

Events, , ,

by Joe Wallace

I haven’t been to one of these events yet, but I am already in love with the Chicago Urban Art Society for doing their quarterly(?) Warehouse Junkies vinyl sale referenced in the video below. In Texas, I was involved with two bands who merged vinyl with art, Crevice and Pink Filth, and it’s always special when these two worlds collide.

The Chicago Urban Arts Society makes them collide on a regular basis, so these are people I definitely want to get to know.

The concept is awesome, and vids like this always put me in the mood to go crate digging. That’s me done writing for the day, I’m off to score some records! Blame the video.