This collection of solo jammers from an ex-member of a
Frasiertown grunge band of the 1990’s (as well as pre-historic & future
times, arguably), starts with a composition consisting of only samples of
Samuel L. Jackson from Pulp Fiction (because why not?). Side A continues with
some pretty & gritty acoustic string things, stripped-down
funeral-mariachi-style, wart-rattle and all. After previously hearing a couple
Alvarius B albums that were collections of previously-not-worth-releasing
stuff, this is a pleasant find, side A ending with Al. B. Sure in character,
talking you through the tuning process; riffing, improvising, goofing,
scowling.
Side B is the real shitt. This is my jams. Straight up. Yuh.
Primordial-ooze-down-the-side-of-a-mountain vocal howl with bowed-string
screech. Sickened pre-historic
post-apoca-dirge. Lomax grit saturating the tape. Scritch-scraping with ethno-Folkways Mickey Mouse chants. Weirdo plucked string & vocal drone, with
Earth chants & vocal freakers. Super sick (meaning rad, but also meaning
worse than the flu) vibes. Tape ends with a sparse bit of squeaks & scrapes
from some sort of bowed string instrument.
This came out some number of months ago, in an edition of
60, so if you run to the mall now, you might just have a chance.
-- Garrison Heck
For those not in the know, Alvarius B. AKA Alan Bishop AKA Your Uncle Jim was the bassist and vocalist of esteemed occult rockers Sun City Girls. Also, surprisingly, this is the first Cassette Gods review for a release on Dylan Nyoukis' long-running label Chocolate Monk -- ed.
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