Kathy Acker’s Re-Doing Childhood, originally released in 2000, is better experienced than described. Based on her book My Mother: Demonology the album is spoken word full of surrealistic and often disturbing images. This is not for everyone but those who understand it will find it irresistible to turn away from. Acker’s own voice is quite powerful but the instrumental background is incredibly moving and fit perfectly with the poet’s unique vision. I especially like “Miss Savage’s School For Girl” but this is an album best listened to in its entirety.

The album is available from the amazing Ubuweb in 192kbps MP3.

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American poet and composer Jackson Mac Low is best know for his readings that incorporated systematic chance operations and random elements, a method uninfluenced by musicians like John Cage. He often collaborated with colleague and partner Anne Tardos. These three albums, all offered by Ubu and posted with permission from Tardos and the Mac Low estate, give a fascinating perspective on his life work.

Doings is a good place to start. The performance pieces on this album falls into three categories; spoken works, instrumental works, and compositions that involve both voice and instruments. The opening excerpt from “Merxmix 2000″ is a nice introduction to the artist’s use of fragmented speech. It is followed by a short but pleasant flute quartet. The album offers both Mac Low’s solo compositions and those performed in collaboration with Anne Tardos. The artists’ spoken works are certainly odd. They are often electronically altered and have a “word association” quality. “Free Gatha 1 and Free gatha 2″ is a nice example of Mac Low and Tardos performing together.

Music by Jackson Mac Low and Anne Tardos is a live performance from November of 1999. Besides the voices of Mac Low and Tardos, the performance features Andrew Bolotowsky on flutes, soprano Mary Hurlbut, and Violinist Theresa Salomon. There are three collaborative works by the composers and one solo composition by Tardos. These are long pieces with the shortest one being slightly over ten minutes. It makes for involved and fascinating listening. This album also gives you a good look at Anne Tardos’ talent especially on her piece “Three Cycles”.

Finally, Open Secrets has some repeat tracks from Doings but over-all it is a better perspective of the composer’s output. Again Tardos plays a significant role and the tracks are fairly evenly divided among multi-track vocal pieces and instrumental chamber works. I especially like “Lucas i to 29″ and “Wind/Instruments”. Jackson Mac Low and Anne Tardos are new artists to me but these three album makes a good case for viewing these experimental musicians as important to the contemporary music scene in the last part of the 20st century.

The three albums are available in 128kbps MP3. if you enjoy the music and poetry, you might want to check out the books and CDs that are available to purchase from the estate’s web site.

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Doings: Assorted Performances Pieces
Open Secrets
Music by Jackson Mac Low and Anne Tardos

The Voices of Paul Bowles is a very unusual entry in the Tellus audio-cassette series of the 1980s. Born in 1910, Paul Bowles was an American composer and author. He composed film scores and incidental music until the age of 40, then redirected his rather prodigious talent to writing innovative fiction until his death in 1999. I have loved Bowles’ short fiction for quite a while but did not realize he was also a composer. This 56 minutes album of stories written and narrated by the author, plus brief examples of his musical compositions, is the perfect introduction to this important literary figure. I especially recommend listening to the short story “Allal” which, like much of his work, is an eerie psychological allegory. There are two brief instrumental compositions by Bowles. The other musical tracks are field recordings of Moroccan musicians collected by Bowles in 1959. This audio project for Tellus is one the best in the series and is clearly a labor of love.

The album is available in 192kbps MP3.

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I met Groucho Marx in 1972 at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He was doing a book promo and a friend of mine was able to get me into a small Q&A session. Unfortunately the ravages of old age were quite evident and he was having a bad day. Even then there were signs of his famous wit and charm. I remember asking him about my second favorite personage in the Marx Brothers films, the elegantly frumpy Margaret Dumont. He replied that the reason she was so good at being the straight person was because she never understood the jokes.

An Evening with Groucho is a performance at Carnegie Hall also from 1972. Fortunately for us he was in much better form. It is is basically a “Story of my life” show. Groucho entertains the audience by talking about his films, his famous friends, his equally famous brothers and , of course, himself. His voice is a bit faltering but he seems to be enjoying the time. There are a few musical numbers, noticeably “Hello I Must be Going” and “Lydia The Tattoo Lady” but the real delight is hearing the stories of this master comedian and film star. This is a very entertaining recording that is also a fascinating bit of oral history. If you are not familar with Groucho or his brothers, the very best thing to do is to go rent Duck Soup or Animal Crackers but this album would be a nice introduction.

The album is provided by The Old Time Radio Researcher’s Group and is available from the Internet Archive in both 64kbps and 128kbps MP3 format.

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French composer Francis Poulenc was at a relative’s home working on a piece of music. His four year old niece who was clearly not a fan of 20th century modern music placed her copy of Babar The Elephant on the piano and asked her uncle to play it. He improvised music on the spot to fit the classic children story which eventually became the groundwork for his composition based on the same book.

Pianist Daniel Goodman and Jack McCreless gives an entertaining performance of this combination of children tale and music. It is almost impossible to resist comparing this to the much more popular Peter and The Wolf by Prokofiev of which you can find a performance by Goodman and McCreless here. I find Babar to be a much more interesting composition if perhaps a little too challenging for most children for whom the story is directed. It is also tempting to discuss how the cute little elephant was actually justifying the excesses of French colonialism but I’ll try to avoid that sand trap. Composed in the 1940s, there are some charming musical themes in the pieces but is still quite modern and a bit dissonant. However McCreless’s narration keeps the story on track and sets the scene for each musical interlude. It’s an unusual but endearing work.

The work is available from the Piano Society in 128kbps MP3 format

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Tellus was a bimonthly audiocassette “magazine” devoted to promoting new and experimental music. It was published from 1983 to 1992 and featured many of the most innovative artists in music, spoken word, and performance arts. Ubuweb has almost all 27 issues available as free downloads. Much of this music has rarely been heard while some tracks have been accepted as seminal works in this post-modern era. I will be featuring many of these albums through the year and I will start with the first two issues of this important “publication”.

Tellus 1, as with the second issue, spotlights artists and musicians from the New York area. For an album that promotes the avant-garde, the music is surprisingly diverse. It starts with a funky soul-jazz number by no-wave guitarist Jody Harris. However it isn’t too long before Sonic Youth shows their more extreme side on the live “Scream” while contemporaries Live Skull and Rat-at-Rat-R play a more typical version of Noise Rock. Brenda Hutchinson contributes a classic work of vocal manipulation in “Wordplay”. Joseph Nechvatal represents the state-of-the arts in the 80s electronic music scene with “Ego Masher” and Rhys Chatham, a regular contributor to this series, plays minimalist guitar music on “Guitar Trio” which is reminiscent of the work of Glenn Branca who can also be heard on this track. The other works are quite interesting if not always successful.

Tellus 2 continues this look at the music scene in New York of the 1980s. The Scene is Now’s “Bugged Out, Wigged Out” may be your only chance to hear avant-garde jug band music. Tony Papa’s “Water Works” is a clever and amusing mixture of moisture and melody. Spoken word is well represented by Mitch Corber’s “Budge, Budge, Budge The Budget” and Cardboard Air band’s “Little Rabbit”. Other favorites include David Garlans “No More Misty Night”, the hip hopish “2-4-7-9-11″ by John Fekner, and Dr. Telecom’s electro-funk “Phone is My Clone”. The rest of the tracks range from entertaining to incomphrensible.

The albums are available in separate tracks at 192 MP3. If you like these two issues of Tellus, make sure you check out the rest.

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Tellus 1
Tellus 2

Kenny G Meets John Zorn has to be the most mind-boggling album title of all time. No, this is not THE Kenny G or even THE John Zorn but poet Kenneth Goldsmith (who DJs at radio station WFMU under the moniker Kenny G) and electronic composer Jonathan Zorn. However the album does have something to do with the famous easy listening pop saxophonist.

Due to Mr. Goldsmith’s dubious choice of names, he tends to get a lot of e-mail meant for the other Kenny G. You can read a few of them here. Goldsmith and Zorn collaborated to create this piece of, for lack of a better term, performance art. Goldsmith’s dead pan recitation of these letters and Zorn’s odd and sometimes overbearing glitches and beeps cast a surreal shadow throughout. I’m not sure I like this album as much as just get a giggle out of it. The strange humor, the unique idea, and that great album title is enough to give it a thumbs up.

The album is available as separate tracks in 192kbps MP3.

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You want some Bach? Which one? Johann Sebastian or Offen?”

The Old Time Radio Researcher Group has done an admirable job archiving long lost radio programs from the first half of the 20th century. The Internet Archive hosts many of these collections. most being old mystery serials or comedy shows. They are usually in one track and comprises the most complete set of known recordings for the programs. One of the collections that is music related is The Victor Borge Collection, a collection of radio performances featuring the Danish comedian/pianist of whom I consider one of the funniest persons ever to grace the stage.

Essentially there are two collections: a complete collection of radio transcriptions that you can find here, and this collection of selected single episodes. Most of his more famous routines can be found here. The first track is a fine biographical sketch. The other tracks include Victor Borge’s humorous musical antics (”Words and Music”), stand up routines (”Phonetic Punctuation” and “Inflationary Language” being the most famous), and a few straight instrumentals (”Brahms Lullaby”). There are a number of live performances so there is a lot of redundancy in the routines but each one has subtle changes exhibiting the artful mastery of this brilliant comedian and musician. If you never heard Victor Borge before I would suggest “Comedy in Music part one and two” or the hilarious “Inflationary Language”.

The collection is available in either separate tracks or album zip. Most of the tracks are in 128kbps MP3 although a few of them are in lesser bit rates.

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Eddie Cantor was one of the most popular entertainers in the first half of 20th century. Cantor originally played in vaudeville and became one of the lead stars of The Ziegfield Follies from 1917 to 1927. His performances built a bridge between the vaudeville days and the growing development of radio and television variety shows. The Internet Archive’s 78rpm collection offers a entertaining group of single recordings and radio transcriptions by the irrepressible Cantor.

The 78rpm recordings varies from very scratchy (1923’s “He Loves It”) to amazingly good (”Ain’t She Sweet”). There’s a lot of old standards of which Cantor gives his unique renditions. The classic tracks include “If You Knew Susie”, “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby” and Cantor’s trademark “Ma, He’s Making Eyes At Me”.

But the real treats are two half hour transcriptions of Cantor’s radio show called “It’s Time To Smile”. One features Jack Benny and it is a riot. Benny, in my humble opinion, was the greatest comedian of radio’s golden era. He is often called the father of modern stand-up comedy. He was a master in getting maximum laughs out of the minimum of words and only Benny could get a big laugh out of a moment of silence. Cantor manages to keep up with the comedian’s perfect timing. The show also features a very young Dinah Shore. The other radio session has Al Jolson as a special guest. Also included is a very funny public service announcement with Cantor, Benny, Shore, and Burns & Allen extolling the virtues of gas rationing during World War II.

You can download these tracks separately or in a full album zip. The format is MP3 but the bitrates varies per track from 32kbps to 160kbps. These are delightful glimpses of entertainment from the golden age of radio.

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If you think you’ve heard every yuletide story in existance then you are probably ready for Snaildartha: Jerry The Christmas Snail. Matt Fugate and Chris Strouth created this oddball tale. As Chris writes, “It started as a silly little idea: Make the Life of Buddha into a Christmas story oh yeah and make it a snail. ”

Yes, it’s strange. It is also funny, clever, and has more than a little wisdom. Chris directed and produced while Matt narrates the story in a perfected combination of droll wit and sharp timing over the musical score. And what a score! Organist Scott ”Pink Slippers” LeGere, Drummer Terry “Poker Face” Haanen, and saxophonist George Cartwright laids a hip jazzy groove that is supportive when needed and is independently listenable during the several musical interludes. The great musical backing stays complementary to the imaginative telling.

Some may find the pairing of Buddha and Christmas to be uncomfortable. I say, listen to the story! It’s amazing how well the two traditions merge in this retelling. And I can truthfully say you may never look at Santa Claus in the same way again.

The album is available as a full album zip in 128kbps MP3.

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Every school child has heard Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf at one time or another. The classic orchestral composition, orginally composed for a Moscow children’s theater, is not only vastly entertaining but an excellent introduction to the classical orchestra as each character is represented by a musical motif taken up by a particular instrument; the strings represents Peter, the horns represents the wolf, the flute represents a bird, and so on. Prokofiev not only composed the music but also wrote the story and narration.

This recording is different for it is not the orchestral version but Prokofiev’s own reduction for piano. The pianist is Daniel Goodman and Jack McCreless narrates the story. It actually works very well. Although we lose the timbre of the instruments, we can focus on the actual musical theme representing the various characters. Goodman’s interpretation is excellent as is McCreless’ ability to communicate this delightful tale. It will not replace the splendor of the orchestral version but this solo piano work is still thoroughly enchanting.

The piece is available in 128kbps MP3 from The Piano Society.

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I first heard this unusual recording about six years ago and, as far as I know, it is out of print. Thanks to that ecletic treasure chest called Anablog, it has surfaced again.

William S. Burrough did this 1992 reading of his Christmas tale, The Priest They Call Him in Kansas. Kurt Cobain later added the avant-garde guitar score in Seattle. Burrough’s sandpaper voice is a worthy adversary to the chaotic effects from the Nirvana guitarist. The two personas often sounds like they are in battle but since the story is pretty rough it makes sense. While this can be considered a bit of a novelty, it is still an essential listen for Burroughs and Cobain fans alike.

The recording is in 192kbps. It is just under 10 minutes long which makes it substantially shorter for most albums or single works considered for inclusion at Free Albums Galore. However it is special enough to be an exception. By the way, the figure on the album cover is Nirvana’s bassist, Chris Novoselic .

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God in his wisdom
Made the fly
Then forgot to tell us why
-Ogden Nash

On this April Fool’s Day I present for your enjoyment something a little different for Free Albums Galore. A spoken word album from America’s foremost poet of the absurd.

Ogden Nash exceled in the light verse. His poetry is full of puns and light-hearted wit to the point that you may not realize he is also blightly satiring and questioning 20th century culture and norms. On The Fanciful World of Ogden Nash, he reads 26 of his poems observing everything from flies to insomnia to the difficulty of getting coffee with a meal. His readings are charmingly accompanied by a woodwind and harp score by composer Glenn Osser.

The album is available in 192kbps MP3.

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