by Radio End (Ed End & C. Goff III)
rADio eND is the work of Ed End, an artist who is new to me, but comes by way of my old friend Charles Rice Goff III, home recording veteran and ship commander of the Taped Rugs Productions label. For Salvator Salvandus, Charles took Ed's source material and modified it, blended in his own original recordings, plus assorted mutational fun.
"Salvator Salvandus Alpha" opens the set with spacey swirls, heavenly washes, and cascading bell/chime effects, all propelled by a rickety washboard kind of rhythm. In the last couple minutes, the rhythm recedes, and we float to the finale on waves of high-octane-space-scapes and a jaunty cosmic toy piano sounding beat.
"Inner Transmission" is next and -- really interesting rhythmic work on this album. There's a strange kind of electronic 'drumming' and wavering drone pulse that drives the action, and it's surrounded by a succession of intensely delirious, spaced out sound waves. In the last minutes there's a thematic shift as we come in for a landing with a brief angelic chorus, followed by a multi-layered glom of electronic space rocking, hippety-hoppety vibes.
"Etheric Body" sounds like a blend of cosmic choir, SETI alien transmissions, throbbing martial beats, and battalions of insect saucers revving their engines. Later in the track things quiet and a voice says: "The squirrel's granary is full!" (At least that's what it sounds like??), and we're now buzzing around in an eerily ambient yet head-spinning spiral of sound.
I like the combination of clattering bells and machine-like soundscape waves that open "Aether Particles", before settling into a gently intense, ambient roar (with an electrode charged robot voice interlude). At nearly 12 minutes the piece gradually evolves, including traces of Berlin school electronica, various interestingly concocted rhythmic bits, garbles of voice samples, and much more.
"luva Te, luvabit Te Caelum" is a grinding and clattering rhythmic rant, the harsh vibe offset by playful horns, effects and voice samples.
Finally, the 10+ minute "Salvator Salvandus Omega" closes the set in deep meditative space, sailing through a cosmos inhabited by spectral beings, alien transmissions, whimsical melodies, and colored throughout by a parade of freaky effects.
I’ve probably listened to this gem a half dozen already. LOTS to discover and digest over repeated listens!
Review by Daevid Brock, Electronic Cottage Online Magazine
by -Ing (C. Goff III & Steve Schaer)
I listened to this recording all the way through. The description was a review in and of itself, and it made me want to hear what the results of their experiments were. As in all looper compositions, it started out slow, and gradually got more interesting as the time progressed. I could hear the resemblance to the mentioned Fripp and Eno sessions, and by the time it was over, it had me wanting to hear another one. This was a great project, and it comes at a time when SOMA Laboratories is developing a new looper device that will interact with the artist. Bravo.
review by Ken Moore, Encyclotronic Online Magazine
by C. Goff III & Michael LaGrega
Charles Rice Goff III and Michael LaGrega follow up last year's Organic Matter in the Midst of Space with a set of 6 experimental sound collage space explorations. The duo utilize an arsenal of synths, keys, electronics, effects, violin, bass and other devices to create excursions that are simultaneously mind-bending and chaotically disorienting.
The fun starts with Annulment Of Suspension, an intense combination of space symphonics, alien insect analyses and percussion. Whirring and buzzing electronics pepper the proceedings as space waves and drones variously rush and flow, punctuated by percussive blasts and blows. The Machine Economy consists of a contrasting blend of heavenly space symphonics and machine-like electronica, noise and percussion patterns, which soon develops into a chaotic but strangely rhythmic and melodic dance song, bringing to mind a Vangelis/Kraftwerk/Hip-Hop mashup. Goff created a very cool video for this piece, which you can
CLICK HERE
to view or get it in the download package listed below. Do yourself a favor and view it on your computer, iPad or some similar device. You will NOT get the full lysergic effect on your little phone.
Goff and LaGrega have more fun crafting dissimilar elements on the 17+ minute Amid That Which Is. Ambience, freaky alien electronics and a parade of instruments and sounds converge to create a dreamily intense symphony of controlled chaos. The intensity level gets kicked up a notch when the percussion blasts are introduced along with wildly swarming electronic patterns, though it's all tempered by the underlying drifting ambience. The whole is a creatively perplexing glom of components that, once again, are brought together into a turbulent but craftily cohesive whole. Next we go into full blown cosmic orchestra mode on Plasticity Nullifies Vividness, which sounds like some kind of interstellar Leonard Bernstein. Analysis Of Being-In features more art damaged space-ambience and symphonics blended with various sounds, electronics and effects to create an intense avant-garde sci-fi soundtrack feel. Finally, The Manual Doorlock Buttons Of Perception is a multi-layered ambient/soundscape excursion with a 50s sci-fi soundtrack edge and a wee bit of zaniness that brings the set to an ultra-cosmic close.
In summary, Goff and LaGrega have a flair for bringing seemingly dissimilar elements together in creatively disorienting ways. Check out Sharpness Of Formulation for a deep space adventure that is both challenging and fun.
review by Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations
Sharpness Of Formulation by Charles Rice Goff III & Michael LaGrega is Mmmm Mmmm, good. This music has been slow-cooked with a hearty broth the hungry listener can swim in. All kind of surprises are in this sonic minestrone: found sounds, synths, loops, voices, and more beat into improvised submission come at you like a parade. Ever changing and morphing objects form, replaced one by one with another equally wonderful spectacle. 'Annulment Of Suspension' is like a kind of harmonious noise that finds there is life after iteration. After a good dose of space mayhem on 'The Machine Economy'. The duo leave us suspended in animation with 'Amid That Which Is'. My fave on the release, 'Plasticity Nullifies Vividness' delivers an ethereal punch to the cranium. We've entered surreal space in the closing tracks. Crossing a star field of blinking eye-balls on 'Analysis Of Being-In' and finally. The encounter with intelligent life as we are guided through 'The Manual Doorlock Buttons Of Perception' to find we have become one of the ingredients in this tasty sonic stew.
review by Jack Hertz, Encyclotronic
by C. Goff III & Walls Of Genius
A little background: Earlier this year, 1980s homemade music/cassette culture veterans Walls Of Genius released their first new recordings in 30 years, one album of which was Paleolithic, released on the HalTapes label. There was also an outtakes album titled Paleolithic Rejects which Charles Rice Goff III contributed guitar to. Lodovico Cement consists of Goff's improvisations with Walls Of Genius which he then reworked into the interpretation we hear on Lodovico Cement, which is quite different from the music heard on the Walls of Genius albums and just as art damaged interesting and fun.
Beautiful Music combines merry shimmering slide whistle with drones, keyboard and guitar to create an oddball moody piece that is just as whimsical as it is darkly foreboding. This theme continues on Mathod in Medness, though it becomes increasingly spacey sound collage oriented and valium paced free-form psychedelic. I like the contrasting moods and sounds that come together to construct a bubbling stew of atmospheric soundtrack and ambient driven, mind-fucked acid jam. Capstan of Industry features sci-fi rhythmic electronic patterns and aggressive but not overly harsh noise waves which are like a strangely musical bowels of the spacecraft engine room soundtrack, but also brings to mind a bee swarm shot backwards across the shortwave radio spectrum. Nova Express is a schizophrenic blend of melodic instrumental ditty and chaotically coordinated alien sound collage orchestra. I like how the guitar jams its repetitive podunk melody as the alien throng impressively attempts to march in step with the melody. The oscillating bevy of sound fun continues on the nearly 30 minute title track, which soon transitions to a dreamy yet frequently intense ambient, sound/drone-scape excursion. It's quietly introspective for a while, with plenty of haunting moodiness, but also the kind of opposing freakish sounds that made for such a strange but intriguing concoction on the earlier pieces. Things get a little crazier when what sounds like looped acid guitar and other miscellaneous sounds drift through like a topsy turvy whirlwind alongside the principle theme, with the whole mash-up eventually melting into a deep space surrealistic acid rock jam that soon evaporates into an avant-soundscape ether.
As usual, Goff does his creative magic with the Walls of Genius recordings, resulting in an hour of psychedelic, soundscape and sound collage fun that can only be fully digested and absorbed over repeated listens.
review by Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations
by Basement Of Extra Power
Basement Of Extra Power is the trio of Michael LaGrega, Allan McGinty, and Charles Rice Goff III, whose first self-titled effort was released last year. Between them they play guitar, bass, synths, keyboards, and a variety of samples, loops, effects, preparations and toys, all of which get a sweaty workout on these recordings made July 10, 2014 at Michael LaGrega's studio in Leawood, Kansas.
Spots Of Spurious Rot consists of two tracks and nearly 50 minutes. The electronics and effects run riot right out of the chute on Blind Spot In Your Mind, like the Forbidden Planet soundtrack merged with an alien circus band. The bass jams along ploddingly, providing a doped rhythmic pulse, as various effects flitter and buzz about, and a computerized voice crops up with bits of narration. This is busy stuff, with multiple elements running parallel. There are floating space electronics that remind me of early Alien Planetscapes, simultaneously accompanied by a Jazzy keyboard, but then an almost symphonic, spaced out Proggy keyboard. The bass gets pretty wild at times and nicely distorted as it continues to anchor and propel the flow of the music. The effects and voice samples come fast and furious, and along with the underlying musical drift it all conjures up some freakishly surreal imagery, all of it not of this world.
Defenestration continues in the same spirit, but at seemingly higher volume and intensity. I like the powerful heavenly symphonic space keys, fractured noise blasts, and on-going parade of voices and effects. The bass continues to lead the way and gets downright groove rocking, and the overall sensation is of a 50s sci-fi avant-arthouse alien insane asylum theme. That's the effect (on my brain anyway) of bringing together so much at once and somehow making it all work. Like the previous Basement Of Extra Power album this is a fun listen, though full attention is required to appreciate what these guys have stitched together.
review by Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations
by Michael LaGrega & C. Goff III
Organic Matter in the Midst of Space is an EP consisting of two space excursions by the duo of Charles Rice Goff III and Michael LaGrega, recorded at LaGrega's studio in Leawood, Kansas on June 5, 2014. I just reviewed the latest from the Basement Of Extra Power trio of Goff, LaGrega and Allan McGinty, recorded just one month later.
Goff and LaGrega's space journeys aren't quite as freaky and surreal Basement Of Extra Power, but there's nothing run of the mill about this as the duo pack their creations with plenty of strange sounds and a varied assortment occurring at once. The first track, 129 To Nall, features an underlying, gradually phased drone over which a banquet of alien sounds flitter, shimmer and float, including some cool Frippoid soundscape guitar. The Book Of Toluene combines a Tangerine Dreamy sequenced pattern with howling and swelling cavernous atmospherics and shooting star electronics. There's a symphonic segment I liked with an orchestral melody that played alongside the soundscapes and effects, later joined by what sounded like a spaced out saxophone and some haunting voice samples, making for a cool and strange brew. Maybe a good soundtrack to a story of the lone survivor in the bowels of a space station experiencing the onset of madness. Good fun image inducing space treks.
review by Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations
by Various Taped Rugs Productions Artists
Caricature Masquerade is a collection of unreleased collaborative recordings among artists that have appeared previously on Taped Rugs Productions releases, as well as some who are new to the label. The common thread throughout is Taped Rugs founder and head honcho Charles Rice Goff III. I'll borrow liberally from Goff's explanations of the source of each piece.
There are four tracks that first appeared on Suite For Zero Gravity Ballet, a collaborative collection of interstellar space music released by Ecco Hollow in 2013
(CLICK HERE to check it out).
Each track was mixed by Goff, who added sounds, applied effects, and made careful edits to recordings supplied by the artists. Circus Of The Stars, with David Fuglewicz, consists of an electronic pulsating throb, toy instrument melody (like a marimba), and all manner of clattering sounds. Later the electronics get even more interesting, blasting off into bleepy blurpy space and accompanied by what sounds like electro giggling. Ionic Pentameter, a collaboration with Brava Centauri, features odd rhythms, freaky electronics, spaced out voice samples, concert piano, and a fun efx'd pastiche of sounds and instruments. Lovely Lady Of LEDA 25177, with Darlington Pair, is a highlight, being a spaced out collage of Trance music and grooves, melodic soundscapes, ghostly howling chant vocals, and other fun effects. And Antarean Vocabulary Lesson, with Total E.T., is a head spinning glom of electronics.
We also have some collaborations between Michael LaGrega and Goff. Wyandotte Winter was recorded by the duo in 2010. Goff later created a psychedelic video of wintry scenes from Wyandotte Park in Kansas City, Kansas, which he embellished with this recording as its soundtrack. The video was released on a Taped Rugs collection entitled Don't Drag Cords Around Corners. The music is a combination of intense electronic Psychedelic concerto and Residents styled soundtrack. Goff has done lots of very interesting video work and this is a fun collection.
(CLICK HERE to check it out).
What It Means To Be Whole was recorded by LaGrega and Goff Kansas in 2011. There's a lot happening in just three minutes, as the duo rifle through a parade of themes. It starts off with a light melody that sounds like an old organ demonstration combined with space electronics, but then abruptly switches gears to a tribal/playful/orchestral mix, followed by a Goff vocal piece, and then a cauldron of space electronics surrounding a narrative bit from an old movie. It's impossible to adequately describe this piece but I'll say it's my hands down favorite track of this set. Subjective Matter was recorded by LaGrega and Goff in 2010, and the following year Goff created a Dadaist video to illustrate the recording for Justynn Tyme's Dali Krab Holiday. The music includes cavernous atmospherics, an unsettling flittering electro pattern, church bells, string manipulations and sundry other sounds that make for a spacey, haunting and sometimes sinister feel. I enjoyed this for the purely oddball array of moods. The video was released on a Taped Rugs collection entitled Psych Pshow in 2012 (Another Goff video I recommend.
CLICK HERE to view.).
There are two lengthy tracks that are outtakes from the collaboration between Big City Orchestra and Goff entitled Reflected Imprecations
(CLICK HERE to check it out).
dAS of Big City Orchestra added sounds, applied effects, and made careful edits to recordings supplied by Goff to create these tracks. Paregoric is like some kind of avant-space soundtrack, combining strangely rhythmic Trance music and DJ grooves with a collage of freaky sounds and voices, and trips along a pleasantly oddball alien path. Opium creates a haunting Gothic atmosphere and ominous alien presence, bringing to mind a spaced out Residents Mark Of The Mole soundtrack.
Finally, The Four Walls Of Tomorrow is an outtake from the collaboration between Justynn Tyme and Goff entitled Raydio Bradcasts' Mrs. Morris Goes To Mars. Tyme added pre-recorded materials, applied sound effects, and made careful edits to recordings supplied by Goff to create this track, and I highly recommend this to fans of old radio broadcasts. Tyme and Goff do a good job of creating a fun old time radio feel, which also includes spaced out soundscapes and experimental free improv music. It's different.
(CLICK HERE for the entire Raydio Bradcasts.).
review by Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations
by C. Goff III, Michael LaGrega, Allan McGinty
On November 29, 2013, the trio of Charles Rice Goff III, Michael LaGrega, and Allan McGinty converged on LaGrega's studio in Leawood, Kansas for what would become the 4 track, 74 minute Basement Of Extra Power. Goff is a veteran of the home recording underground, having been creating music, songs and experimentations for over 30 years, and also produces the Lo Finest radio show, celebrating the homemade music cassette culture of the 1980s-90s, hosted here at Aural Innovations. I've been immersed in Goff's music for years, and am acquainted with LaGrega's work through his collaborations with Goff, and both LaGrega and McGinty through their participation, with Goff, in the River Cow Orchestra. Basement Of Extra Power is quite an avant-space trip with LOTS happening simultaneously throughout. It's difficult to describe, which makes it all the more fun to try, so check out these descriptions of my experience of the album:
As Unregulated Ventilation begins, the bass lays down a plodding jazzy groove, while an array of spaced out synths and electro melodies trip along playfully. The bass periodically shifts to a sort of manipulated cello mode, and there are Mellotron-like waves that add a space-prog vibe, which sounds really cool along with all the flittering alien electronics. Just past the 10 minute mark the guitar starts to rock out and goes into acid-Fripp mode as the atmosphere intensifies. But things soon settle down and the music transitions to a dark and ominous yet strangely dreamy ambience, while the guitar and bass continue their tension-laden sound and melodic sculpting. Throughout this 20+ minute piece the effects and sound formation come fast and furious; multi-layered and continually evolving, and all together it's like an avant-garde mish-mash of The Residents and the more freaked out moments from Hawkwind's Space Ritual performed in a smoky jazz lounge cum chamber music hall.
Liquid Assets is grim and doomy, like the avant-acid-prog soundtrack to a film set on some barren alien planet. At just over 4 minutes this is the shortest track of the set, but it's got an accompanying video created by Goff. I've seen lots of Goff's videos and he has a creative flair for visuals, in this case making a fun and trippy collage of still shots and video taken in eastern Kansas and western Missouri.
Strobe-O-Scoptic Tic Tic lays down a steady hip shakin' jazzy alien chill-out groove, accompanied by pleasantly ambient synth waves and other electronic fun. We've got quite an interesting blend of influences here, including 60s Exotica, floating space-ambient drift, Shaft-in-space funk, and Fripp-on-acid guitar.
If you've listened to the first three tracks and still enjoying yourself, then hold on to your hats for the 36 minute Black Friday. It kicks off with deep space soundscapes, against which the bass and guitar noodle about, quickly starting to gel as the bass takes on a throbbing ambient rhythmic quality, and the guitar is variously focused on effects and freakouts. This piece is about atmosphere and a lysergic sense of thematic development, though wrapped within we've got freeform jamming bits, a parade of UFO effects, oddball rhythms, and soundscapes galore.
In summary, this is a challenging yet good fun and highly rewarding set for those who can set aside time for an attentive headphones listen. Analogies are tough, but this will appeal to space rock fans who also have a fondness for The Residents.
review by Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations
by Jared Balogh & C. Goff III
Arrghh, undoubtedly it is a frantic set of 12 pieces which is composed of a huge array of the snippets of (mostly) vintage recording samples, commercials and elaborated sounds. Indeed, it behaves like a chameleon throughout the whole course providing many cogent changes in formation and moods. More profoundly, sometimes it chimes like a space age courier, sometimes like a brother of Dave Keifer`s Cagey House due to its haunting artful outlets, at times like a weird output of indie/folk pop, classical music and electro (which is driven by autotuned robotic vocals with tongue in cheek). Or on the other side offering up instances of buffoonish pop a la Kevin Ayers which do entertain you in a weird way as those compositions which freak out within the territory of ethnic and trance-induced progressions. It is a loveable issue which may make you go nuts.
review by Borealiscape, http://agier.blogspot.com
by C. Goff III & Michael LaGrega
Charles Rice Goff III has been a name I have known since the early 90's when he had some of his electronic music released on the Ecto Tapes label out of Oklahoma. Charles is based in the Kansas City area and the music on this CDR was performed for the Kansas City Electro-Music Festival in 2011. These compositions were created in collaboration with Michael LaGrega who performs on synthesizer. The aesthetic here is one that Goff knows very well, he's been doing this sort of thing for over 20 years, equal parts space rock, avant garde and sound collage. Here he adds, as well, his voice in places, utilizing a vocoder effect. The vocal parts are hit-or-miss for me, but the compositions built up between sequenced parts and textural, sweeping synth tones sound very good. The use of turntable loops from rare records adds another interesting element to this music.
review by Phillip B. Klingler, Killing Birds
by C. Goff III & Michael LaGrega
This release documents the preparation and development of themes to be performed at the Kansas City Electro-Music Festival in 2011(see review above). There are some differences in these compositions to the live performances but the overall sound is the same, a sort of throwback to space rock, ambient music and cassette underground weirdness.
review by Phillip B. Klingler, Killing Birds
by Federico Barabino & C. Goff III
If you haven't heard CRG III's strange sounds before, this is a perfect CD to introduce them to your ears! Though I've listened to (& reviewed) a lot of his Taped Rugs Productions works over the last 20 years, this is one of the most amazing, no doubt. You would have to consider it more in the experimental jazz realm than as "pure"... in fact, Charles points out on the liners for the album that his were only one set of interpretations of the "Expresiones" Federico provided him... no matter who else they were farmed out to, it can be stated with certainty that you will never hear anything exactly like these. You MUST be in an experimental frame-of-mind to listen to these... anything else would do them injustice... these are finely crafted, with a real sense of (musical) "sculpture" - artworks, to be sure. For those listeners who love music that isn't "normal", this experience is MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - & in fact, it gets out "PICK" of this issue for "best experimental works"! Superb & well recorded!
review by Rotcod Zzaj, Improvijazznation Nation
Charles Rice Goff III has been around for ages, at least in what can easily
be tagged as underground. Here he takes control of work recorded by the
unknown, at least to me, Argentinean guitar player Federico Barabino. His
improvisations are called Expresiones. He sent seven to Goff and in return
Goff thought of seven different ways to rework/remix/recycle them. This
ranges from recording them to cassette and re-record them as they spun on a
turntable, converting to midi files, looping it through a digital mixer and
adding some of his own sounds: all to create metamorfs. The approach taken
by Goff make this a highly varied disc, that however makes much sense. Some
of these pieces may be too long, such as 'Zapatos De Patos' and 'Four By
Ten', which could have been easily trimmed in half, but the electronic
manipulations of the short 'Escuchame' and 'Fuerte Suerte' proof that a
concise approach works best. The prize winning piece is the creepy and
intense 'Be Like A Chair' however. The guitar has been processed beyond recognition and crawls like a beast around.
review by Frans DeWaard, Vital Weekly
by Nest
What a taste of odd for a Sunday morning... Eric sent this CD from Portland, Oregon, while I was in the desert... looks like it was in May, this year. The music on here will be a bit of a challenge for some, though others will grok it right away - one name I recognize immediately in the group that put this together, of course, is our old pal C. Goff III, so that explains a lot of the strange elements hereon. Lots of vox-overs, tastes of industrial machine noises, & a prevailing sense of the experiment that the whole home taper thing started off with, oh-so-many years ago! NEST have a real sense of how to use pauses to enhance the sonic experience, & I found this very, VERY enjoyable as new... something I hadnt heard before that challenged me to actually listen to what they were doing. Eric described it as a Studio project... no liner notes, so no idea if that means pro studio, or home studio... either way, it sounds just fine throughout. This is not for the "faint-hearted", or for listeners who want "only standard"... it IS a challenge to listen through - but, of course, that's why Eric sent it to US for review... we WANT music that challenges the listener & spurs them on to new heights... & in that sense, this gets our MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED rating.
review by Rotcod Zzaj, Improvijazznation Nation
by C. Goff III & Robert Silverman
That Goff mix of Miracle is amazing. This is world class electronic music making in my opinion. This may rank as your greatest (non pop) achievement. The textures, the dynamics...man, the quality and fidelity of this recording is outstanding. You have topped yourself with this one. The Silverman mix is good too and I need to relisten to it soon but I spent some serious recliner chair time with your mix and it took me there...where? who knows, but there...
review by Don Campau (personal email note to Goff)
by C. Goff III & Chris Phinney
Interesting concept where on one cd the music/sonics originally created by Chris Phinney are manipulated and added to by Charles Goff. And on the other cd, it's the turn of Phinney's original material to be added and manipulated by Goff. On the Phinney manipulated Goff cd there are five tracks, and eight on the Goff manipulates Phinney. On the five track album, Phinney has created some quite sparkling soundscapes. With the use of voice overs (from a variety of sources like OTR and sports commentators) and reshaping, looping and changing the original material he's produced a machine shop of textures and colours. Because the tracks here are generally longer, they develop slower. The other cd features on average shorter pieces. The beauty in this is that both cds combined offer up some interesting concepts, at times they're industrial, and yet by turns, ambient. Anyone who's interested or enjoys the work of Goff, or indeed anything related to Goff will know that what you get isn't your regular fare. Maestros is no exception, but I do believe that this set is probably more user friendly for beginners. A splendid tour of the inner landscapes.
review by Dave Hughes, Modern Dance
On disk one, Goff digitally manipulates and adds to music recorded by Phinney back in the Eighties.
Expect a scary ride here. These electronics are gritty and forceful, like a pack of winged wolves circling a hapless flock of sheep. Densely layered so as to leave no pause to catch your breath, the textures evoke disturbing nuances with their shrill punctuations and eerie structure. Moans and laments are spliced into the seething mix, lending even more foreboding sentiments to the already unsettling harmonics. Other instruments (like guitar, metallic impacts, looping vocal samples) come and go, mired in the toothy morass.
Grinding pulsations cascade with determination. Waves of dark tonalities collide, generating fresh apprehension with each merger. Whirling cybernetics descend from ominous thunderheads--be careful lest you get cut by their razor sharp blades.
While presenting in a musique concrete style, this music actually possesses a more melodic fashion than most abstract noise compositions. Hints of melodies wander into the mix as if lost, where they remain, happy to have found a home--haunted though that abode may seem to outsiders.
On disk two, Phinney digitally manipulates and adds to music recorded by Goff back in the Eighties. This time, the music is more varied, taking a shriller posture and injecting a dash more melody to the drone.
The first track is brief. Its electronics are piercing and extremely spacey. Frequent radio samples float in the background.
During the second, much longer piece, effects tortured from a guitar provide a foreground melody, while a hoarse wind of synthetic generation worries the mix, causing the electronics to shudder and spin remarkably fast.
The third track is an epic 22 minutes long. Here, things step into gloomier mode. Dark tonalities hover like an impending storm. Treated voices whine in a melancholy manner, while effects dog the theme, ripping out chunks and entering the flow.
The fourth track is compressed in length to 6 minutes. In direct converse, the music adopts an elongated fashion stretching notes out into yearning streams of haunting resonance. Clumping beats and faint voices wander through the piece, while a guitar adds subliminal depth deep in the mix.
The CD ends with another short track, wherein the sounds display a nasty attitude as they clash and duel for supremacy.
Review by Matt Howarth, Sonic Curiousity
On this two CDR package recorded in August 2005 Charles Goff III teams up with Chris Phinney. On disc one Phinney manipulates and adds stuff to recordings Goff made in the 1980's. And with a great result! The first two tracks, "Patrolling Space" (do I have to say more?), and "Sliders Way Inside" are highly synth-dominated songs mixed with the special strange dada-esque and funny voices and guitar sounds that are so typical for Goff III. Voices taken from broadcast or movies are mixed with heavy synth leads. Track 3, "Desert Blues" (length 22 minutes) is built around voice recordings and has a special alienating effect. As if during a close encounter the alien really starts to speak. During listening to the former Beach Boy Brian Wilson came to my mind. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Goff is a great fan of his music. But this track gets very unpleasant as it draws near the end; noisy sounds collide with the voices we hear. The last track, "Get Ready", starts with a drone but rapidly other sounds come and go. I cannot always tell who did which sounds, Phinney or Goff, but Phinney surely did a great mix. On the second disc the roles are changed and it's now Goff who manipulates and adds sounds to a source tape Phinney recorded also in the 1980's. A couple of songs stay in the same pattern as on disc one. But especially the tracks "Temple Without Pews" and "Occasionally Breaking Glass" are remarkable pieces of sound art. Again the synths play an important role but they are not in the foreground. The typical Goff additions are voices and samples and they flow easily into the warm and dense analogue synth sounds. The music breathes a relaxed atmosphere. Just lay back and let it flow over you. With a track like the 19-minute "Occasionally Breaking Glass" this is no problem. I find this release to be one of the best ever by Phinney or Goff.
Review by Pascal Hament, Rigodon 4
Both Chris Phinney and Charles Goff III aren't the new kids on the
block, as they have been active inside experimental music since
twenty or more years. Phinney used to run the Harsh Reality Music
cassette label and worked under the moniker Mental Anguish and Goff
III has been active as Goff III mainly. On this double CDR release
they do a very 80’s trick: Phinney re-works sonic material of Goff in
the 80s on analog tape and Goff does the same thing with Phinney's
material from the 80s. Chris Phinney is a man of spacious musics,
feeding the sounds of Goff through an endless line of analogue synths
and many sound effects. We don't know what the input of Goff was
here, but it's a nice cosmic trip Phinney takes us on.
On a similar trip is Charles Goff III, but his material is less
lengthy and a bit more dense. Also, but I am not 100% sure about
this, I think computer treatments play a bigger role here than with
Phinney's re-work (boys of this age don't use the term remix, mind
you). Goff's work is more 2005 than Phinney, but it's a good, solid
space ride for two hours, without much news going on.
Review by Frans DeWaard, Vital Weekly
Volume 1
Composition 3 is a score, or set of instructions really, by Charles Rice Goff III, intended for four performers each simultaneously performing one of four parts, or for solo performer with the aid of a multi-track recorder. Participants execute the piece by following a detailed set of instructions which requires a pair of dice, a small bowl, a small rag, a deck of cards, three non-percussion musical instruments, two portable radios and six hand held non-instruments. I'm struggling to concisely summarize all this so I'd encourage readers to see Charles' instructions. It's very interesting. In any event, the instructions are organized such that no two executions of Composition 3 will sound the same. There are seven entries on Volume One, and sure enough each is indistinguishable from the other and of varying lengths, the most obvious common denominator among them being the recitation of a series of short lines Charles composed. (I had to chuckle to myself when hearing "Did Tolstoy want to be Tolstoy when he was twenty-five?" brought the comfort of familiarity.) Among the participants is Composition 3 composer Charles Rice Goff III, long time Goff collaborators Mikadams, Eric Matchett and Hal McGee, Greg Segal, Marcel Herms (aka Fever Spoor), and Pascal Hament.
Mikadams' execution features a hypnotic droning sitar that winds it's way throughout the piece, adding a hauntingly strange Indian vibe. Along with the basic theme is Charles' lines and other strange spoken word bits and an interesting melting pot of noise, sounds and field recordings, which sounds very cool against the backdrop drones. Hearing Charles' written lines recited throughout the entries kept reminding me of Captain Beefheart, with such examples as "I always order the infinite paradox with jelly icing" continually bringing to mind the old Trout Mask Replica "a squid eating doe in a polyethylene bag is fast and bulbous... got that?" type phrases. Fun stuff without having to get overly concerned about its meaning.
Greg Segal's execution is more sparse, with the spoken word being at the forefront, along with a mellow recorder melody, light percussives, guitar, and the chance radio bits that Charles' instructions include. In fact, these randomly found radio stations provide one of the most common yet varying denominators across the entries and makes for some interesting and often fun variety. Dutch sound artist Marcel Herms concocts an interesting brew by bringing together church organ and other keyboard lines, spoken word, radio, assorted sounds and even Neil Young. C. Goff III's execution of his composition is another that is dominated by spoken word, though in this case that also includes song (love those lyrics Charles). Of course we also have miscellaneous sounds and radio, along with guitar and percussive clatter, but these are embellishments for Charles' spoken and sung delivery, often with an amusingly theatrical feel, which are what kept me intrigued throughout its 11 minute length. I could easily close my eyes and picture him on stage in solo performance.
Pascal Hamet is new to me and a Google search of his name returned a single hit - a review he wrote of an early C. Rice Goff III CD. Anyway, Pascal offers one of the most intense executions of Composition 3, creating a dense wall of sound that soon transitions to a strange spacey bit. At just under 4 minutes this is the shortest piece of the set and I was disappointed that it wasn't fleshed out further. Eric Matchett is yet another participant who focuses on spoken word, with the sounds and instrumentation being sparse but integral to the whole. I liked the resulting combination and though it was another short track I thought it worked well. Volume One concludes with veteran sound artist Hal McGee. What's interesting is at this point I'm starting to recognize even more commonalities across the pieces. Each is completely distinct from the other, but I can sense the structure laid out in Charles' instructions. The overall ambience of Hal's entry is a trademark sound from his own works, but within that is spoken word, piano, noise and clatter percussion.
A close reading of Charles' instructions is necessary to understand the overall goal, though by no means required to enjoy the entries from a general experimental sound art perspective. However, I'll confess it took me a few close reads to understand the instructions and now that I've wrapped my understanding around it I think there's lots of potential for a fascinating live performance. In the meantime, I'll look forward to Volume Two.
Review by Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations
Much of the music played in the pages of Vital Weekly is composed but not through classical means, ie: a pen and paper and traditional scoring techniques, not even modern ones. However 'Composition 3' by Charles Rice Goff III is an exception. It's modern score: 'a work for four performers or for solo performer and multitrack recorder'. The score is enclosed and consists of a bunch of papers with instructions: 'toss dice in bowl, pick a card, play a succession of different notes as many times as the value of the card indicates'. Goff urges anyone who performed this ten page score to send him a recording and this 'Composition 3, Volume 1' has seven different performances of this score. As with these kind of Fluxus inspired scores they all sound different. Much of the scores deals with spoken word and loose sounds, but the seven performers make up their own story as it were. The performers here are people that sometimes also have their traces in visual arts, such as Marcel Herms of Fever Spoor or Pascal Hament. This release is more curious than really good, but in case you wonder if it's the score or the execution of the score, you should give it a shot yourself.
Review by Frans DeWaard, Vital Weekly
by Tom Sutter, C. Goff III, Michael Paull
Ants In My Cabana was recorded by the trio of Charles Rice Goff III, Tom Sutter and Michael Paull (the latter two are new to me). It comes as a 2 CDR set, one mixed by Goff and the other mixed by Sutter. Both have different track listings, but a note from Charles that accompanied the discs challenged me to be able to tell that they were created from the same raw materials.
The Goff Mix disc opens with a brief whimsical intro with a chaotic but surreal vibe, and from there we get a few short tracks which include some interesting percussion pandemonium, and a couple that nicely blend atmospheric space freakiness with guitar that's reminiscent of 70's/80's Fred Frith and voices that are dead ringers for The Residents. But what seems to be the main theme of the set kicks in with "Crossing The Kaw", an interesting piece that combines multiple layers of alien space electronics with pleasing cosmic keyboard patterns but also some contrasting free-improv guitar, noise and percussion. New Age music for the avant-garde. The space/avant-garde contrasts continue on the lengthy "La Parilla", which is dominated by an ultra terrestrial space electronics theme, but keeps things interesting by incorporating little experimental bits and pieces, and later allowing these elements to take over while still retaining a cosmic vibe. "A Cat For Our Child" does the opposite, beginning as a clatter driven free-improv piece, and later taking off into a kind of freaked out dark ambient space realm. It's floating dreamy space but there's lots happening, much of which the traditional space electronica crowd would least expect. Both tracks are among my favorites on the Goff Mix. And throughout the set the trio do an excellent job of bringing together disparate space electronic and experimental elements in really intriguing ways.
It's clear early in the Sutter Mix disc that I would not have guessed these tracks were created from the same source material. Mixing things up with the avant space themes is still in abundance, though this set is much more ambient in nature. You often have to listen closely to hear all that's happening at once. The nearly 17 minute "The Lawrence Working Part Two is the highlight, with its focus on sound development and meditative calm amidst clatter, noise and an elusive sense of urgency. Most of the set is deep in space. Cold, quiet and calm, but also bubbly, busy and freaky. I enjoy ambient soundscapes but being of a somewhat hyper nature I appreciated the doses of kinetic energy and experimentalism thrown into the mix. And now that I've heard both sets in their entirety it's pretty amazing to realize that they were created from the same recordings. Recommended to space freaks who aren't afraid to venture well outside tradition.
Review by Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations
There's two releases here, both of them share the same title, Ants In My Cabana. However, one is remixed by the man himself, the other is done by Tom Sutter. To be honest, albums like CRGIII's, when 'remixed' are to all intents completely different albums. This one is no exception. A minefield of samples, percussion, humour, moody, hell, you could spend all day thinking up words to describe what's here. The soundtrack to a nervous breakdown, the score for a film totally shot in the dark, musak for an elevator that goes sideways through the sulphur lakes on Venus... The Sutter remix, on the whole, is a lot darker, more menacing than a menacing thing. This is definitely a David Lynch soundtrack album, Eraserhead even. As is always the case with anything at all released and credited to ol' CRGIII, each and every one is a new experience.
Review by Dave Hughes, Modern Dance
This double disc has two radically different mixes based on the same material, which is a bunch of improvisations recorded early August by Charles Goff III and one Tom Sutter, who is apperentely working since a long time with 'unusual sounds', with guest contributions by one Michael Paull). The three hours worth of materials were stripped down, re-organised, re-edited and what have you to re/de/compose the originals. The cover doesn't state any instruments used, but I think the Charles Goff III disc is the closest to the original sound. Cascading waves of synthesized sound, but with the additions of treated vocals, feeding through a bunch of sound effects. Occassionally there is a bass sound, either a real bass guitar or a bass synth, radio snippets and piano tinkles. If that isn't spacey enough for you, the Tom Sutter mix of the material seems to be entirely focussing on the synth aspects of the material. Here space becomes the place. A highly cosmic journey through the life and wires of the synths - alien monsters taking over the modulations. Quite a nice double CD, with probably not entirely different materials, but none the less an interesting set of various mix possibilities.
review by Frans DeWaard, Vital Weekly
by Don Campau & C. Goff III
From the warped minds of Charles Goff III and Don Campau comes a rather inventive split release featuring 10 cover tunes on one li'l disc that'll sure you make you grin (cheek to cheek style, not that fake half-grin that always gets you in trouble downtown). These guys pay their musical respects to some of the greats here (David Byrne, Robert Wyatt, The Fugs, David Bowie, etc.) in about the weirdest way imaginable. Especially hot is the slap-happiest version of the Donovan classic, "Epistle to Dippy" I ever did hear. Utilizing tape speed vocal treatments, drum loops, in-and-out whirliness and a we're-having-fun-whether-you-like-it-or-not attitude that makes this disc shine with the best of the tribute discs.
Review by Steve Zimmerman, Orange Entropy
I slack-jawed my way through this CD last night...it pretty much goes way beyond everything. AMAZING arrangements. I connected with Don's tunes somewhat more than with Charles' due to being more familiar with them, but there's no denying the tremendous artistry throughout this disc. Kind of redefines the concept of doing "covers": we'll take some songs, pressure-pack them into a rocket (say, 2004 p.s.i.), fire them off into the stratosphere, and when they reach eight miles high, the rocket will explode and shower earthbound listeners with flaming sound-embers for 40+ minutes. They'll never know what HIT 'em! Sky pilot INDEED... These guys constantly reaffirm the fact that music can be anything and everything (all together now!). As usual, I'm in awe.
Review by Mark Kissinger
Ok kiddies, here's a collection of old songs that don't get covered every day. We've got Charles Rice Goff III and Don Campau giving their own no holds barred interpretations of tunes by some of your favorite artists, as well as a couple that probably appeared on a hundred K-Tell classics compilations. I couldn't start at the beginning of the CD because as soon as I saw they'd covered Eric Burdon's "Sky Pilot" I shot straight to track 3. I've always loved this song. And sure enough Charles and Don do it justice, cranking out a very cool rock n roll version, complete with firing gun and airplane efx and general freakiness.
Ok... now I can start from the beginning of the CD. The set opens with a cover of David Bowie's "Kooks". I was a little confused at first because I didn't recognize the title and they begin with the riff from "Rebel Rebel" and Charles does a brief line from "Heroes" at the end. But the lyrics sounded familiar and a quick Google search revealed that it's from Hunky Dory. Next we travel to K-Tel Classics land with a dark and acidic rendition of "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia". I don't know if Vicki Lawrence would be flattered, but these guys get a thumbs up for totally making this song their own. If yer gonna do a cover... make it your own. Go crazy. Be weird. Slaughter it... but do it with love.
"Shipbuilding" is credited as being written by Elvis Costello for Robert Wyatt. I've never heard it but if anyone deserves to have stars writing songs for them it's Robert Wyatt. Sing it Charles! Another song I'm not familiar with is "My Dark Hour" credited to the Steve Miller Band. But Miller was around long before his dinosauric hit single days and the song has a very nice pop-psych sound. One song I know very well but may not have identified without the chorus is the cover of Peter Gabriel's "Mother Of Violence". It's got a strange but very cool off-kilter Caribbean groove to it. Donovan's "Epistle To Dippy" is given appropriate psychedelic salad shooter treatment. Freeeeeeaky!!! "Acoustic Guitar" is credited to David Byrne/Talking Heads, and definitely has a Talking Heads rhythmic pulse. One of the most head boppin' songs of the set. Charles and Don dig deep into pop music's past for their cover of Gerry and the Pacemakers' "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Cryin'", their cover being somewhat faithful to the original, but coloring it with all sorts of messed up alien bits. One of my favorites of the set. Finally, we get a rousing version of The Fugs' "Kill For Peace". A truly fun set of covers.
review by Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations
2 masters of D.I.Y.
home-recording join forces to produce a "covers" CD that goes all th' way
from David Bowie's "Kooks" to "Epistle To dippy" (Donovan) to Peter
Gabriel's "Mother of Violence". Sound quality is excellent, I mean you can
pop this zucker right in to your car CD player & rock on down th' ro-ad.
Th' more these 2 perform together, the better they get! They're joined (on
"Kooks") by Don's wife, Robin O'Brien, for backing vocals. '60's retro with
new life in th' 21st, verzure... I especially liked th' remake of Gabriel's
tune, as well as the last track, "Kill For Peace" (from The Fugs). Th'
message is th' same, throughout the ages... POLITICIANS twist the truth to
suit their own purposes - EVERY time. This is not a "political" album,
tho'... in th' strongest traditions of D.I.Y., just a few guys gettin'
'round a recorder & showin' that we can do it too! Great FUN, great music,
a good time for everyone's ears... gets a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED from us
for listeners who demand different.
review by Rotcod Zzaj, Improvijazzation Nation
Well, here's a turn up for the books - an album featuring CRGIII that's sane. Joking apart, CRGII is, for me, one of the leading lights in experimental music, and it was a pleasant surprise to put this on the spinny thing and actually hear their versions of some pretty classic songs. The album features ten tracks, and kicks off with the Bowie beaut, Kooks. Songs like Sky Pilot (Eric Burdon), Acoustic Guitar (Talking Heads), Don't Let The Sun Catch You Cryin' (Gerry And The Pacemakers) and Mother Of Violence (Peter Gabriel) make for a really interesting diversion, and what I admire perhaps more than ought else is the choice of songs - different! But then again, no one on this planet couldn't accuse ol' Charles of not being different. I love their cover of Costello's Shipbuilding, the song that Robert Wyatt did so much for, and Epistle To Dippy by Donovan is a nice change from Dylan. That's the thing, see, is that there's no Beatles, no Stones, no Dylan! Fair enough, Bowie isn't exactly a minor celeb, but to hear some good songs, covered with a slight smile and a wink. Cracking.
review by Dave Hughes, Modern Dance
The recently unearthed name of Charles Rice Goff III has a new
release with Don Campau (also recently reviewed a couple of times in
Vital Weekly). Together they cover ten songs from well-known artists
such as David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, The Animals, Talking Heads,
Robert Wyatt (well, actually it's Costello's 'Shipbuilding') and
more. Other than 'Shipbuilding' I didn't know any of these songs, but
in my defense I can state I am remotely away from popmusic for at
least twenty years, so please forgive me. This makes reviewing this
CD not an easy task, since I am not really familiar with the
originals. I however believe they stay, playing their instruments and
adding samples, close to a rock band. Which is actually quite nice,
since it's quite a coherent bunch of songs, even when the originals
come from various musical backgrounds. Whoever is singing here, the
voice sounds most like Bowie's! Quite a nice and coherent collection
of songs, that will be appealing to those of love alternative rock
music that for once is not lo-fi but excellently produced.
Review by Frans DeWaard, Vital Weekly
by Hal McGee & C. Goff III
When I interviewed Charles Rice Goff III last year he revealed that he and Hal McGee were working on a Space project so I'd been looking forward to this one. Verve Of The Void does indeed serve up heaping portions of electronic space, though these investigators into the nature and intricacies of sound aren't just targeting the Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream set. Charles and Hal create eerily somber yet thematic voyages that conjure up images of abandoned spacecrafts and a looming alien presence. The trademark sound through much of the album consists of Charles and Hal utilizing a mere handful of keyboard lines to create hauntingly cosmic scenes that take place deep in the cold and lonely regions of space.
The album begins with "Hydrogen Into Helium", which features airplane engines, drones and screaming high pitched keyboards, all running parallel but winding ever so slowly around one another. "Unertia" is similar but brings to mind a haunted house in space with pulsating and spinning tones functioning as ghostly screams and wails. I felt like I was part of the team boarding the ship where the entire crew is dead but we discover an alien entity that taunts us as we make our way through the craft. Things get proportionally larger with "Hissing Nebular Gas", which is like a full electronic space orchestra with rising and falling symphonic waves. Some of the throbbing and wailing tones even sound like horn sections.
But it's the 31 minute "Transmission" that is the wildest and most richly detailed ride of the set. We've got growling creatures who are clearly not offering tea and scones, swirling UFO sounds, wind tunnel blasts, and a banquet of sounds and efx that work in tandem to create a sensation very much like that moment where the roller coaster has just reached the crest of that first big hill and you're now zooming back to Earth... the only difference being that Charles and Hal are in control and instead you are hurtling straight up and the G-force is ripping your face off. I like the harsh keyboards around the 8-minute mark that give the music a strange Rock feel. The music is continually evolving and does settle into more drifting segments that are similar to the rest of the album. But this would make a great soundtrack to a short film. I wonder if there's any unreleased Ed Wood flicks lying around somewhere?
In summary, Verve Of The Void is highly accessible if you enjoy the details of the film soundtrack in which subtle aural brushstrokes are key ingredients of the larger visual experience. Like so much of the music that both these artists create... ya gotta just sit back, relax, open your ears, let your mind go, and all will be revealed.
Review by Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations
More Charles Rice Goff III and here with Hal McGee moving again in a
different sort of territory. His previous releases, at least the ones
I reviewed, were of an improvised nature or popmusic, with 'Verve Of
The Void' they move in McGee's territory of cosmic music. They switch
their synthesizers on, all the sound effects they can possibly find
and start playing heavy drone like music. Not the one that lulls the
listener to sleep, but rather one that is the perfect soundtrack to
the documentary 'edges of the universe' - endless shots of stars and
of the galaxy, with a voice-over telling about possible lifeforms far
far away (and of which voice shots are heard at the end of
'Transmission'). Normally I would complain about the length of pieces
like this, but here I think it works well. Music like this simply
needs the extendedness to work. It works right inside the brain after
a while. You won't catch up with sleep as this music is much too
forceful for that. Nice one.
Review by Frans DeWaard, Vital Weekly
Nice layout. The cover photos and art are neat-o colorful space pictures. Inside, the sounds are also astronomical. This is ambient space noise at its most proficient. 4 pieces here (ranging from seven to thirty minutes. It's like being there kids. Goff and McGee magically capture the sounds and feelings of an outer space adventure and share them with you so that you can take the journey without leaving your chair. Oh, the daydreams. This will quickly find circulation in the "lazy day" section of my rotation. This is one astounding sounds cape / audio-picture. You have to hear it to believe it.
Review by Mark of Neo Zine
This cd is really great! I really enjoy this kind of "music". It is spacey and dark. It has some hidden secrets it seems! I have to listen to this cd more often to reveal these secrets! And I sure will do that, it will be one of my favourite cd's. My compliments; outstanding work!
Review by Pascal Hament
"Verve of the Void" features four long tracks of free-form abstract electronics. Musically, a lot of it can be filed under Dark Space, with several sections slightly resembling Tangerine Dream's work on "Zeit" although the sound here is rougher and more "in your face". Some noisy bits are included too, especially on the lengthy final track, called "Transmission". Generally, if you like free-form electronics, some Avant-Garde and Noise stuff, or are a fan of vintage sci-fi flicks, you will enjoy atmospheres served by Charles Rice Goff III and Hal McGee on "Verve of the Void".
Review by Artemi Pugachov, Encyclopedia of Electronic Music
This zone that surrounds our little ball of spinning mud puddles looks so empty, but there's all this electromagnetic stuff going on--gamma rays and xrays and infrared and ultraviolet--big splashes of light and fire from these huge globs of hydrogen and helium that spit enough energy to cook your eggs on desert rocks or kill you in a second if you aren't covered in layers of lead outside the gas bubble around Earth. And there's radio waves too, and they don't just come from the stars--our very own human-generated radio waves are washing this void, shot from our planet's highest evolutionary peak with all the enthusiasm and energy that we self-absorbed bags of chemical reaction can muster. Good Gods, our little brains have swollen up so much not that theories of black hole voids full of all kinds of whacky gravity and time distortions are clouding our thoughts of emptiness. Obviously some overbearing obsession drives the need for theorization, for exploration, for explanation. It's the verve of the void...
Review By C. Goff III
by C. Goff III, Eric Matchett, Johnathan Sielaff
The latest from Taped Rugs Productions, that purveyor of strange and wondrous sounds, is a free-improv/avant-progressive collaboration between former Turkey Makes Me Sleepy cohorts Charles Rice Goff III and Eric Matchett, and Jonathan Sielaff, who I'd not heard of before this recording.
The CD opens with "Sundial", which begins with freeform percussion and a generally thunderous atmosphere. Soon the clattering percussion takes over along with fun freaky Residents-like voicings, both real and efx'd. We then move into an avant-garde chamber ensemble/horror film/New Years Eve party glom, that soon transitions to an electronic experimental finale. Wow... and this is just the opener.
"Blowing & Fingering" features a cool mixture of free-improv stylings, alien space, and electronic fun that does a fine job of bringing contrasting parts into harmony and creating an interesting journey-into-sound whole. I like how the bass clarinet plays a sparse but effective melody, accompanied by equally diffuse guitar and electronic noise textures. But about halfway through this 9 minute track, all the parts come together into a cohesive and linear avant-progressive rock construction which struck me as kind of a lo-fi version of Univers Zero. "Lariat" starts off similar to "Blowing & Fingering", and journeys along in this fashion for several minutes until the keyboards kick in to provide a foreboding orchestral backdrop, and the guitar and clarinet duet to create a dark musical narrative that again falls into the avant-prog realm, but also would work well as the accompaniment to a theater production. There's a strong thematic feel which builds and shift as the piece develops, and even rocks out a bit.
On "Poison Plectrum" the trio take off into free-jazz freakout territory, and the killer bashing guitar adds a gorgeous mindfucked rockin element to the mix. But as is case all over this album nothing stays the same for long. There's an excellent Sun Ra styled bit with flute and tribal percussion, which is given an ultra sonic kick in the ass by the aggressive guitar. Lots happening here folks, and the lads once again succeed in traveling about in full freeform mode, all the while keeping their transitions fluid and mucho satisfying.
"Zicam Phunk" is one of my favorite tracks, beginning as a spacey psychedelic avant-garde shoegaze excursion. Lots of cool pulsating atmospherics, a weird Spaghetti Western sort of guitar melody near the beginning, and a generally cosmic vibe. It's dark and intense, but exudes power. To my ears I hear bits of such diverse influences as Univers Zero and Neu!, if you can imagine those worlds colliding. And boy what a pinball machine of worlds colliding it is, because the boys soon shift to a funky Shaft meets the Residents groove that keeps the continually evolving theatrical feel going, but also gets into more avant-rockin explosions. The set closes with the relatively short "Slap-Up Seven", another avant-proggy tune with lots of electronics thrown into the fray.
After having given Puddle Town an initial listen I told C.Goff III that I thought this was one of the coolest discs I'd heard from him in a while. And now that I've given it the close headphones review listen I have to say..... that this is one of the coolest discs I've heard from him in a while. Fans of both avant-garde free-improvisation and avant-progressive rock will find much to enjoy here. And psychedelic freakout hounds with VEEEERY open minds will find plenty of razor blade balm for their brains. Recommended.
Review by Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations
What really makes this CD "odd" is that it sounds (much) like a "normal" jazz/improv album. What gives with CRG III? Now, that doesn't mean that the music on here is top-schlock-40, either... there are still strange voices (heard a demon or 2, severely in need of some ex-lax) goin' on down under th' guitars/beats/synth, & only the strange will survive. Mee-ster Goff cautioned me when I told him I'd been listening to this on th' road... that's prob'ly because he knows if th' thought police in th' middle o' th' puddle ever pulled you over when this was spinnin', they'd be forced to lock you down. I did survive th' drive, tho', in part due to the fact that there is some really interesting guitar/synth/horn interplay goin' down on trak 2. We've been reviewing odd-istry from CRG for many years now, & I can say without hesitation that this is one of the most musical I've heard from him. I'd have liked it better if I could've read the liner notes (print seemed to be too smal) better, but that's only a minor grouse for an album that merits a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for fans of CRG, as well as those who want a dash of the experimental. Th' real "players" on this album are Eric Matchett and Johnathan Sielaff... suspect CRG furnished those "deep demon" thangs....
Review by Rotcod Zzaj, Improvijazzation Nation
Here he is again: Charles Goff III, now with a band called Puddle Town, together with Eric Matchett and Johnatan Sielaff. I think they play guitar, saxophone and bass, but I don't know who is playing what. The music was recorded a year ago in Portland, Oregon and there are six tracks, two are edited improvisations by Goff and Matchett and the other four are unedited improvisations by the three of them. In each of the improvisations they play around with minimalist guitar chords and a saxophone blowing mildly as well as vaguely atmospheric notes. Overall they try to bring in tension in their playing but, and this probably due to the nature of improvised music, they don't always succeed well. Some of the pieces, like 'Lariat', enroll in some uninspired playing. A pair of scissors to edit these recordings would not have been a band idea. The two edited pieces, one at the start and one at the end, show that this music would surely benefit from that. They belong to the better ones on this release.
Review by Frans DeWaard, Vital Weekly
by Mikadams & C. Goff III
On Pepper Overboard, C. Goff III teams up with his Turkey Makes Me Sleepy cohort, Mikadams, for some acoustic guitar explorations. It took me a few spins to tune into this music, but the considered headphones listen finally revealed an often mind-bending blend of free-improvisation, captivating melodic drift, and avant-folk that produced the same effect that a lot of psychedelic albums do. The duo employ various tunings, and the efx'd embellishments often kick things up into the cosmos, without losing the principle acoustic focus.
The duo get things stirring with "Ice Water", which has a bit of John Fahey feel. "Extroduction" is somewhat similar, but more avant free-improv, and I even detected a slight, trippy Indian influenced vibe. "Plectrum's Promise" moves further into experimental free-improv territory as the guitars duel with a whining efx'd pattern. "Grooves And Goes Insane" includes lots of nice playing and good ideas, with the boys just letting their hair down for an all out acoustic jam. "Zebraskin" is very different, traveling deep into sound sculpture realms, with ethnic percussion, chanting, the sounds of jungle wildlife, and various other fun efx. Listening to this I imagined myself as the adventurer cutting a path through the Amazon as the cannibals and creatures plotted against me.
But at 28 minutes, "Vondjina" is the epic of the set. Goff and Mikadams build their themes slowly, with thoughtful measured phrases and scenes. It's difficult to describe (give 'em an A+ for that) but I hear a variety of influences including folk, blues, progressive, experimental, and much more... all coming together in a glom that fits together nicely and, like the rest of the album, carried me along on an enjoyable Sunday drive through a strange, paisley Pepperland (though I never fell overboard as the title threatens). Overall, a nice listen for those who want a relaxing journey that strays far from the beaten path. No more... no less.
Review by Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations
by Taped Rugs Artists & Friends
If you haven't been to an aural "Mad Hatter" sonic affair lately, you'll find this CD the "cat's meow". Our pal CRG III (Charles Rice Goff III) is truly a master at twisting things, particularly cutup sonics, into something that is (somehow) recognizable, yet bent. & those who know me (in the musical sense) know that I just LOVE musical adventures that carry folks away into the land of "bent forever". One of the main things that stands out for me on this recording is the quality of the recording... this sounds like "downtown Hollywood" studio work, but if Hollywood ever recorded music like this - the world WOULD blow up. Various artists here with CRG, including one of my faves, "Buzzsaw". How would I describe the "music" here? Well, I wouldn't.. because it's truly indescribable - you'll have to trust my judgment on this... if you enjoy soniques that take you to new places, via the "meat grinding machine" that Charles put this through - you'll LOVE it. If you're the kind of listener who must have a "word sheet" with every song you listen to - you'll HATE it. There is no in-between with music like this.. like the cover, it's pretty much black/white. Those who can't do without a little danger in their listening, however, will find great challenge here... this gets a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for those who gotta' get an adventure fix.
review by Rotcod Zzaj, Improvijazzation Nation
Twenty-eight mixes of sonic sourcetrack contributions from C. Goff III, Killr Kaswan, Eric Matchett, Buzzsaw, Joshua Duringer, Tapegerm Collective, and Mikadams. Cut-and- Paste Art of high order, very 'human', although built of bites and snipped-bits from life and conversation, listening to Goff, my reaction is similar to that evoked by Negativeland's work... those strange intersections between humor and hatred, outright mockery and subtle advertisement, signal-processing as mask vs. signal-processing as deliberate compositional choice... Zappa-like scatology does get one's attention, but to which or what ends? This carnival does not meet Code... kids beware! The adjacent layers of ambient sounds and sound-effects gives Machinations a disorienting and unconfortable funhouse/spookhouse quality that yer not bound to find in many of your friends' headphones. SUPER odd.
review by Bret Hart, The Unheard Music,Late Autumn-Winter 2002 edition
Well, basically, this twenty eight track album is an amalgam of cut ups, samples, sounds and alien communications from Buzzsaw, Mikadams and Joshua Duringer, all held and glued together by Charles Goff III. Indeed, Taped Rug Productions needs to be seen on the web - their catalogue is as impressive as Warners! And probably more diverse. Machinations is a wealth of aural acid trips the likes of which even Zappa at his most inventive would be proud of. Remember all those segued bits and pieces that tied Lumpy Gravy together, and even some of those of Sheik Yerbouti? Well, this here, folks, is an album's worth. It's like a soundtrack to twenty four hours in the life of a hotel foyer: busy, colourful, restful, and crowded, only this is an aural hotel foyer! It's pointless picking anything out as it all blends seamlessly together, and whilst a lot of fun can be had trying to place some of the samples, it's a real treasure, but not for the fainthearted! The Residents take acid with William Burroughs whilst reality twists through eighteen dimensions - Machinations is the soundtrack to accompany the final battle between chaos and entropy. Check out.
Review by Dave Hughes, Modern Dance
From the United Staes of America comes a cd made with ambient sounds, mainly voices and sometimes a small Casio keyboard (heard it before but don't mind because used for a short time.) This is a good cd because of the voices : the voices are often the missing link in this kind of music. There are no senile repettions of sound elements. C.Goff III is not a typical american citizen for my opinion. Contact him to learn about his projects.
review by Patrick Parent, Red Neon
Here we have something very similar to the riotous Phloby Vs. C. Goff III "Book Of All Things" CD (see AI #20). Machinations is a roller coaster ride of oddball songs and fun-with-tape collages that makes heavy use of samples from a variety of sources. The CD consists of 28 tracks of Charles' collaborations with Eric Matchett, Buzzsaw, Josh Duringer, Mikadams, and the Tapegerm Collective. The whole thing really boils down to creative editing and the warped sense of humor that pervades throughout the set kept me smiling and often chuckling. I kept feeling like I was at a strange alien 3-ring circus and kept my eyes peeled thinking that at any moment Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones would come in and start blasting away. "Alien Death Trip" and "Systems Stop Fucking", both collaborations with Josh Duringer, stand out from the rest as being darker and more serious spacey tracks, and are the only two on the CD that exceed three minutes. Fun.
review by Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations
by Hart, Goff, McGee
Free form experimental music madness by three veterans of the underground homemade music scene. This CD was composed and constructed through the mail. Each member of the collaborative team contributed improvisational-based recordings in reaction to (directly and arbitrarily) to what the others had done.
Bret Hart played several homemade experimental musical instruments: prepared guitar (using four modified chess pieces as fretboard bridges), "Pan-Jo" (instrument made from a Silvertone banjo neck bolted to a pressure cooker with internal microphone), percussion station (containing several ethnic drums, bells and woodblocks), children's electronic xylophone (with phrase memory and looping functions), "Hose-Bone" (constructed out of an 11-inch garden hose, trombone mouthpiece and farmer's steel funnel), as well as Casio SK-5 keyboard and mandolin.
Charles Rice Goff III employed Micromoog analog synthesizer, Fender Telecaster, sundry effects, portable and standard stereo tape recorders, tapes and internet samples (including a hysterical cut-up of a born again Christian preacher ranting about sex themes in rock music lyrics -- as well as Charles Manson, radio broadcast announcing the death of Hitler, and answering machine messages), Sound Forge, Music Mentor Midi compositional tool, and saxophone.
Hal McGee used Big Briar Etherwave Theremin, Analogue Solutions Tri Tone 24 synthesizer, shortwave radio, Dark Star Plus synth module, Casio CTK-651 keyboard, Danelectro mini effects pedals and Electro-Harmonix effects, Acid Pro 3.0.
70 minutes. 19 tracks, including such titles as "The Alones", "Tuning Notes", "Uhura", "Throb & Throblette", "Mute Discord", "Her Rubber Toe", "Tongue Solo & Gardenhose".
Review by Hal McGee, Haltapes
If you think political "spin artists" have totally perverted the language with their sound bytes, wait'll you hear THIS CD... we need to pipe this in to th' Presidential suite... OBL would be history after "Shrubbie" had listened through this noitalubobmocsid for 2 or 3 nights. For those unfamiliar with home recordists & their history, Bret Hart has been making disturbing music(s) for nearly 20 years now; Charles Rice Goff III has applied all manner of twisting to the tongue in order to generate sonic spoken-word that would strike terror in the holiest of rollers; & Hal McGee is among the "granddaddies" of synthesizer madness (Hal started one of the first home-taper 'zines, Electronic Cottage, many years ago). Imagine a cat tossed in a washer spinning at about 9000 rpm, with 28,000 chopsticks added for good measure, & you'll have the essence of track 3, "Fissure". Styles vary as well... cut 4, "The Alones" features some very nice improvised piano (by whom, boyz; no credits visible?), & some nice synth lines, too. "Pectoral Glance", track 15, will, without doubt, stretch the muscles of yer' MIND. A bit darker tone is established on # 18, "Cardiac" (did an arrest follow the recording of this tune, I wonder?). A very well recorded CD that uses high energy and imagination to bring genuinely new sounds to your ears... I think we need to make "Meshed MIxages" mandatory for every "Blue Meanie" in the land. For those who lust after linguistics with sonic strangeness, this gets our MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, as well as the "PICK" of this issue for "best bent improv".
review by Rotcod Zzaj, Improvijazzation Nation
Bret Hart, Hal McGee, and Charles Rice Goff III... a trio of DIY underground giants putting their collective heads together to produce music, noise, and sounds designed to captivate and confuse the senses. It's all here too... noise and percussion bits, carnival organ parading around with electro noise patterns, Bret's guitar attacks, scattered percussion, hair raising sonic assaults (caution with the volume!), and plenty more. I dig the avant-garde orchestral and free-improv pieces like "The Alones". "Trigger" is similar but includes voice samples arranged in strange ways with freaky sounds. "Uhura" is a wild free-improv/collage glom of electronics, strings, percussion and samples. And for space fans we've got "Smithy", "Man Dough", "Her Rubber Toe" and "Pectoral Glance" which all feature fun mindfucked alien cosmic weirdness. And the list goes on. The scary thing is I think I'm at the point with these guys that I'm confident I can pick out their individual contributions to each piece. An intriguing set of strangeness that fans of either of these three will surely enjoy.
review by Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations
Being familiar with Goff and McGee, I knew that this was not going to be the roundest apple on the tree. True to form, it's a hodge-podge of noise, unusual instrumentation, dialing, samples and vocalizations. Meshed Mixages is a pretty appropriate title for this recording, because of the confusing and disorienting nature of the material. If there is any point in this hallucinogenic freak-show that you think you're starting to get a grasp on the material, I'm sure that it will quickly go away with a new and unexpected twist in the surreal patchwork. Somehow this inconsistency is held efficiently together in a paste of gobbledy-gook that fixes these strange sculptures into a cohesive unit of palatable but difficult music.
Review by Mark of New Zine
In these seventy minutes we get nineteen
diverse tracks. Nothing of any sort of instruments are listed,
not any notes on the recordings, but the website learns us that this
was made via the postal system. Bret Hart plays prepared guitar, a
Pan-Jo and several toys. Goff III plays synths, guitar and various
electronics, while McGee plays mostly things with keys. While this
improvisational playing, it's quite a nice release, since the tracks
are quite short. Not every track is great, but at least one can
easily go zapping through this and go to the nicer tracks. Sometimes
the playing is quite tight and close, but at other times things are
too far away, like in 'The Alones'. But a piece like 'Throb &
Throblette' is quite nice, and sounds a like good ol' Throbbing
Gristle.
Review by Frans DeWaard, Vital Weekly
by -Ing
-Ing was a duo of Charles and the late Steve Schaer and features both studio and live recordings from the early 1980's. "Therapy" consists of a spacey psychedelic freakout jam in the Hawkwind Space Ritual vein and with fun crazed vocals. "Whirring During" includes crazed sounds and percussion that have a performance art feel. I dig the wild contrast between the manic male vocals and female singing that reminds me a bit of Dagmar Krause. "The Dance" has male and female spoken word along with additional wailing vocals, clanging percussion and freaky bubbling space efx. "Dark Glasses" features more crazed vocals and spoken word in a strange spacey atmosphere. "Kerosene Soaked Rug", "Trip To The White House" and "Seeming Steaming" are interesting noodling electronics and spoken word tracks. Some of the live tracks are from a live tape loop performance from 1983. "Rosie Notes/The Banquet/Whirring During" starts off as a grungier version of Fripp & Eno's works, though as the music develops it becomes more whimsical and varied, with, what sounds like, multiple guitars and synths working around and developing basic patterns. I like the totally freaky moments with wildly bubbling space synths combined with sparse free-improv guitar. "Hallways Of Always/Therapy/The Aquarium" is even more overtly like Fripp & Eno, but eventually transitions to include some interesting spacey electronics and guitar explorations. And "Louie Louie/King Of The Road/Pop Goes The Weasel" features oddball quirky versions of old time tunes. A fun set featuring more of Charles' early experimentations.
Review by Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations
by Phloby Vs. C. Goff III
Gosh, it sure is fun keeping track of these hometaper folks. They're always collaborating with different people and you can usually expect that the next recording you get from them will sound absolutely nothing like the previous one. Charles Goff III first came to my attention with his Magic Potty Babies band (which made my best of 2001 list) and then on a collaboration with Hal McGee. Book Of All Things is a collaboration with a gentleman named Phloby who I've not heard of previously and consists of a crazed, chaotic and good fun parade of sample manipulations. The CD liner notes explain that the duo employed four turntables and a sampling/looping CD player to work with their source materials. They call it Plunderphonics - the manipulation and reconstruction of multiple media sources.
Imagine the mad studio craftsmanship of Vas Deferens organization but with the focus on sounds and samples rather than music and you'll get something like Book Of All Things. Half the fun is catching what's recognizable and the rest is just diggin the way these guys paste it all together into one big zany stew. The whole things moves non-stop from start to finish and so will my description. Lessee... mished, mashed, blended, cut, pasted, and buried together we've got (what sounds like) strange pulsating electronics and collage bits of rock combined with science documentary chat, commercials, old television variety shows, Mr Rogers, John "Dr Dirty" Valby, a widely used LSD scare film bit, a repeating loop of what sounds like a sample of Fred Frith's guitar against dance percussion and instructional speech tapes, jazz bits alongside Harry Nilsson's "Me And My Arrow", salsa music combined with wild studio cutups, and loads of other freaky samples. I wonder if these guys scanned the AM Radio dial for hours looking for weird programs to tape, or got their hands on old television shows?
In any event, this is a fun listen though for full enjoyment you'll probably want to approach it like you would The Residents Third Reich 'n Roll or something like that. And it all seems to flow nicely from beginning to end. Well... as far as chaos and pandemonium can be considered flowing that is. Sounds sculpture fans take note.
Review by Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations #20
by Fondling Giblets
Th' musick on this CD (in from Bret Hart's Instrumentales Records) will have you reachin' fer' yer' Uzi or yer' asprin... list of players far too long to itemize here, but th' name that sticks out is Charles Rice Goff. If yer' "wicked", don't expect to get any rest while THIS one is spinning... you'll be wrapped in it from head ta' toe. Very industrial strength, feels (at times) like gargantuan steel forges coated in sticky glue, tryin' to dig deep into your brain cells. If you were on krank, you'd be running to yer' shrink. Lots of nice long pieces, diversionary dances to do away with yer' doldrums. There are many listeners who will find themselves unable to cope, but those who love the search for new sonic realities will groove on this "symphony of strange".
Review by Rotcod Zzaj, Improvijazzation Nation,Issue #52
by Herd Of 360 Homogenized Dogs
If you follow the trends/artistes in "underground" music over the last 20 years at all, you will quickly recognize that "herd" word... it's always a sign of some kind o' "Goff-ery" lurking in th' production somewhere. CRG III (Charles Rice Goff III) has been "hookin' up" with various & sundry producers of this "illegitimate" music since before the dawn of time, I imagine. At any rate, on this outing, you will also find Shawn Kerby, Phil Klampe, Hal McGee and Brian Noring joining in the madnesses. McGee & Noring have been doin' strange music(s) ever since I joined the fray (nearly 25 years ago now). On "SUMMIT", you will hear a collection of electronic compositions (only 3 tracks, actually) that will astound your aural appendages and (either) make you lust for more, or sign in to th' local rubber room! It is not "straight" industrial synth-work (at all) that you hear going on down under Goff's patches & snippets, but there are similarities. It is, rather, an electronic exploration similar in nature to some of the acoustic guitar & synthesizer works that I've done with folks like Ernesto Diaz-Infante . The improvisations were live in Des Moines, at Brian's "F.D.R. Studios". There is a real symmetry to the spoken-word material, & it mixes beautifully with the random tones, crashes & bangs from the electronics. Folks who mow their lawns ev'ry Saturday prob'ly won't find this too attractive for their Walkmans as they rake up th' chaff... but listeners who love sonic explorations will find it awfully enchanting... enough so that they'll agree when I declare this to be MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Review by Rotcod Zzaj, Improvijazzation Nation #59
An ensemble improv session consisting of Hal, Brian Noring, Shawn Kerby (Noring and Kerby record together as 360 Sound), Phil Klampe, and Charles Rice Goff III, who recently became known to me from his Magic Potty Babies CD. This is a fun set with lots of interesting combinations of harsh and pleasing sounds. The longest track is the 27 minute "Life On Mars". I enjoyed hearing playful block percussion alongside farting radio wave synths, abrupt sprooooooings, eerie ghost howls, samples of space station reports, and mucho more. One segment features dreamy synths, ethereal voice, and more of the space discussion samples, but there's a high pitched whining tone that seems to be a guardian against the atmosphere becoming too relaxing. The tone then travels into a pagan camp where trippy tribal percussion and chanting voices introduce a psychedelic element, but that mischievous synth isn't exactly a mantra for the listener to meditate on. It's tough on the brain, and I jumped to turned down the volume a few times, but the contrasts are what make everything interesting and challenging to listen to. But for those who wonder what "Life On Mar's" might have sounded like as a more aesthetically pleasing exploration, the lengthy "Muhammad's Tomato" seems to fit the bill. Equally freeform and experimental, it nonetheless has an avant-garde theater sound as it seems to be running through a series of loose themes. Imagine a psychedelic version of the Residents' Mark Of The Mole.... tough, isn't it?
Review by Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations #19
by Buzzsaw
Hoss Cartwright (on th' ol' Ponderosa ranch,
with dad-ee Ben) never heard it so good! Speaker puts words into high gear
(here) on this live recording (with lyrics by "Buzzsaw") from March-April
this year. Absolute insanity in th' splicing of TV themes with maddeningly
odd script/poem(s) that are recorded clearly enough to keep your ear. "Turn
that s__t ORF" comes from th' living room, where my wife is trying to listen
to her "Home & Garden" shows (just like mom used ta' do...). Well, if my
mom had heard this piped in behind her viewing of th' Cartwheel family, her
stomach woulda' been ulcerated (lacerated, mebbe') long before my own sonic
antics began to make her pull her hair out. IOW, this is purr-fect fer' all
you "twisted kittys" out there in listener-land... but be sure you don't sip
too much catnip 'fore you feast on this sonic array. Gets a HIGHLY
RECOMMENDED for those who thrive on th' works of today's "odd-ists" (normals
better stick wit' th' "straight" versions of theme music from "Ozzie &
Harriet").
Review by Rotcod Zzaj, Improvijazzation Nation #57
by Buzzsaw and C. Goff III
This is done by hometape undergrounders, Buzzsaw and C. Goff III. It is so different that I've got to listen multiple times to get half of a handle on it. It's an opera, but a curious one indeed. It's off the scale in sheer eccentric geekery and with innumerable traces of hidden talent among dumbfounding amateurism. The story-line trolls us through a turbulent struggle with writer's block. The words crammed clumsily inside are pretty insightful, with a real knack for getting into the cobwebs of the mind and surfacing lost material. The vocals represent different roles by altering the singer's voice in crude (often funny) ways. It's so right, yet so wrong. Pretty heavy material (and concept) for basement recording.
Review by Carnal H. Coitus,Neo~Barbaric
The liner notes call this "an operatic struggle in language and sound." I'll say.
Review by Poopsheet
Fjaern anthologizes the ten year evolution of styles masterminded by Charles Goff III in a variety of settings, mainly two entities called DISISM and HERD OF THE ETHER SPACE. I note a strong undercurrent of Residents sentiments in the bizarre songy-ness of it, with other hints of Negativland current-events sampling, sophisticated tape loop work, and a druggy Dr. Demento/Firesign Theater humor woven throughout.
Review by Myles Boisen
Weird and wonderful sounds from various projects involving Charles Rice Goff III. Like CRG III, Herd of the Ether Space and Disism. Great version of "Top of the World" and other light classics. Instruments, toy instruments, found objects, scratchy records & far-out vocals all mixed up for your listening pleasure. 90 minutes, 1993.
Review by Jan Bruun, co-released his Hypertonia World Enterprises, Norway
by Gerbil Bliss
This tape of instrumental music starts off really good- the first track,"Noise Groove," is kind of a moody funk-inspired piece which sort of reminds me of STEVIE WONDER's "Superstition." It's almost a great song, but it starts dragging as it goes on and finally lapses into plinky keyboard improvisation. Repetitive keyboard motifs dominate the rest of the first side with "Film When Living" and "Standard Adjacencies". The difference being that former features samples about school films and the latter features arhythmic guitar and keyboard inprovisation. "Drifting Cosmotion" opens the second side with meandering guitars over a drum machine beat that makes me think of the beach for some reason. Next it's "Little Yellow Truck/Mom '68" which sounds like a children's song with its plinky keyboards and grandiose, yet simple melodies. It also includes old tapes of the artist's mom talking about all sorts of things, which is a really great touch. Aside from some mind-numbing repetition, there are some really great moments in this tape.
Review by Ken Miller
LOOK AT IT. THEN LOOK AWAY. THEN LOOK AT IT AGAIN. THEN WATCH LAW & ORDER. THEN EAT A SANDWICH AND SOME BABY CARROTS. THEN LOOK AT IT SOME MORE.
Review by Ian Stewart
