Newsgroups: bit.listserv.allmusic
Date:         Wed, 30 Dec 1992 11:34:45 EST
From:         woj <REWOICC@ERENJ.BITNET>
Subject:      some reviews

hi all...

after the demise of the allmusic digest (a tip o'the hat to mike t.l.g.
for doing it while it lasted), i've finally gotten around to resubscribing
to the list proper.

glad to see that a second allmusic compilation is coming together. i'd
always meant to do a second one, but i never had the time to do so.

anyways...a few things that i've picked up lately:

various artists - _floribundis_ (c'est la mort): this is the latest in the
doctor death's compilation series put out by woody dumas of c'est la mort
records. woody described this compilation to me as the one that he thinks
best answers the question, "what is c'est la mort trying to do?" who am i
to argue - it's his label. nonetheless, there is an assortment of good
stuff on this: tracks from clm bands such as judgement of paris (who are
beginning to develop their sound a little bit beyond the dead can dance
wannabeeism that ran rampant on their first album), grace darling and m-1
alternative. in addition we are also treated to tracks by non-labelmates
such as psychowelders (sounding a bit like caterwaul and a bit like
hetch hetcy, but not really either of them), ten wings (a new band from
new york city which has a one-time member of siouxsie and the banshees
playing guitar), breathless, tel basta and many more. this is a bit more
mellow than other doctor death's compilations. lots of dark, moody,
melodic music here, but some more upbeat ones as well. _floribundis_ is a
good introduction to this label if you've never heard any of this before,
but old timers will probably enjoy it as well.

the entropics - _spagga!_ (popllama): amy denio is god. do doubts about
it. the entropics were an early project of denio's. (she, ironically,
shares the northwest as a homeland with her musical antithesis: grunge.)
like her later work, this is a twisted and quirky admixture of bits of
rock and bits of jazz and bits of whatever else she finds interesting,
except that _spagga!_ is much rawer than the tone dogs. i think i need
to meet this woman (and she plays bass! swoon!).

capping day - _post no bills_ (popllama): a six song cd-ep from another
band that i first encountered the first time i encountered ms denio:
on the c/z _secretions_ compilation of various seattle bands. capping
day had a most weird song on there called "brian in the darkroom," which
is a strange tale about a relationship and developing film. anyways,
this ep is not quite as compelling as that song was, unfortunately. the
music is a slow, melodic, rumbling kind of rock with weird lyrics. two
women provide vocals. i suspect that this will become one of those
albums that gets played more than it deserves - i like it, but i don't
think that most people would enjoy this regularly.

ingrid karklins - _a darker passion_ (green linnet): i bought this purely
on the strength of the cover and a short description of her music in the
green linnet catalog. i wish there were more finds like this. karklins is
a texan of latvian descent and works a lot of the traditional music of
her ancestry into her work. however, this is by no means a "folkie"
album. the best way to describe her is by comparison: if laurie anderson
was from eastern europe. karklins's music has the feel of _strange angels_
musically,but its traditional roots give it a strength and subtlety that
anderson's lacks. not to mention that karklins can sing. this could very
well be my favorite release of 1992.

well, enough for now.

nice to be back.

woj