Doom & Gloom Dispatch #46: This Is Your Real Destination
Lewsberg, Lou Reed, John Fahey, Gabor Szabo, Sonic Youth
Is this band the Dutch Yo La Tengo? Eh, that is probably an oversimplification — but maybe I’ve got your attention now. Lewsberg’s latest, Out And About, definitely shares a bit with YLT’s brand of winsome indie pop (more than a little Feelies in there, too), but there’s plenty of originality and imagination here, too. Half-spoken, half-sung girl/guy vocals, straight-ahead Moe Tucker rhythms, alternately chiming/chugging/fuzzy guitar … it’s the good stuff, my friends! And though the songs sound friendly and catchy on the surface, the lyrics have a certain melancholy tension to them that grabs and keeps your attention. Get Out!
Lou Reed - Falkonerteatret, Copenhagen, Denmark, September 19, 1973
The indispensable weaponsetc Instagram account recently posted Sacha Rein’s eyewitness account of Lou Reed’s Berlin/Rock and Roll Animal tour, first published in the Nov. 1973 edition of BEST magazine.
“Then he appears, staggering. His face covered in pancake makeup, accentuating his puffy, sick little baby face. He doesn’t really know where the microphone stand is, but he needs to find it so as to have momentary support and the man walks across the stage aimlessly. The black hole in front of him swallows him whole. He no longer sees anything, his hands embracing the metal stand are the last link which connects him to reality, preventing him from sinking into total psychoactive nothingness. Pathetic Pierrot, angsty and cruel teenager, he surprises himself with the sound of his own voice. He takes a few steps to the side, falls to his knees, gets up and sings ‘Sweet Jane.’ The infernal saraband has begun; it will end one day with the death of the pale gladiator.”
And it was … all right? It’s amazing to see the level of weird, dark fantasy that was projected onto Lou at this point in his career. And fair enough, he was kind of asking for it, purposely Transforming into a cartoon version of himself, encouraging fans to revel in the most twisted aspects of his art. The 1973 tour was perhaps as dissipated as Reed ever got onstage; his personal life was falling apart, he was drinking and boozing like never before and — horror of horrors — there was a bigger audience than ever there to witness all of it.
But the music? Well, think of this era as Lou’s Godzilla phase — zero subtlety, pure destructo energy, fire-breathing. It’s like the approach to the songs is: “What if the Velvet Underground had never existed?” Which is not to say I don’t like it! I do! In somewhat the same way that Dylan’s 1978 shows are interesting, Reed’s 1973 band pushes these songs into a thoroughly baroque and shameless realm, lumbering and wonky, almost a parody of the then-burgeoning heavy metal scene. In this well-traveled tape from Copenhagen — 50 years ago this week! — Lou sounds a bit more lucid than elsewhere that fall, but not too much; his vocals are dead-eyed and numb, Frankenstein’s monster fronting Black Sabbath. It’s awesome.
John Fahey - Carnegie Hall, New York City, Sept. 21, 1973
Hey, let’s just hang out in September of 1973 for a little while longer. While Lou Reed was laying waste to Europe and Neil Young was opening the Roxy, John Fahey played a unique triple bill at Carnegie Hall in NYC, sharing the spotlight with jazz-pop mystic Gabor Szabo and bossa nova pioneer Laurindo Almeida.
I stumbled across this advertisement in an old Village Voice a little while back and had to ask: “Is there a tape?!” Lo and behold, yes — but maybe only of the Fahey set? Was the taper a die-hard Blind Joe Death-head who left after John opened the show? Maybe. Or maybe I just can’t find the Szabo and Almeida recordings. Help me out, Gaborians!
But John sounds good enough for now — great, actually. He wastes no time getting to the serious stuff, opening his portion of the show with a dazzling, almost half-hour “Fare Forward Voyagers.” This is, in many ways, peak Fahey, kaleidoscopic in its ambition, his technique flawless, his sense of adventure boundless. Despite the composition’s epic length, it’s a gripping performance throughout, leaving you hanging on every note. This is your real destination, as T.S. Eliot reminds us.
John wraps things up with relatively briefer versions of “Dance of the Inhabitants” and “Beverly,” his in-between song patter as typically laid-back as can be, in spite of the hallowed setting. What happened next? Not sure, but I like to think the evening concluded with an all-star jam — Fahey, Szabo and Almeida performing a 45-minute improv raga or something. Stranger things have happened, right? At least a few!
Gabor Szabo - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, California, February 1, 1975
OK, so I failed to locate a tape of Gabor at Carnegie Hall. But hey, here’s something to make up for it: three hours worth of the Hungarian guitarist at the Great American Music Hall a couple years later. Extremely nice stuff, with Szabo joined by Richard Thompson (no, not that Richard Thompson) on keys, Bob Morin on drums and David Parlato on bass.
Szabo and Thompson’s rapport is especially sweet, with the pair trading beautiful lines with grace and style. When they roll into a rippling rendition of Gabor’s signature “Mizrab” during the first set, you’ll be transported to some wondrous other dimension.
I’ve always wondered whether Jerry Garcia was a Szabo fan — there definitely seems to be some crossover in their playing styles. Hey, was Jerry there in the audience on this evening at the GAMH, taking notes? Seems as though he was in town, perhaps he dropped in and thought, “Nice room — maybe the Dead should play a show here later this year?”
More Gabor? Check out this cool half-hour documentary filmed in 1977, featuring the guitarist back in his homeland.
Sonic Youth (and Friends) - Bowery Ballroom, New York City, April 1, 1999
Sonic Youth started the 1990s attempting to break into the rock and roll mainstream. The band ended the decade trying to get as far away from it as possible. To wit, this April Fool’s gig in NYC — a live preview of the Goodbye 20th Century collection on SYR that would be released later that year. Aside from Lee Ranaldo’s solo (and quite lovely) rendition of “Wish Fulfillment,” the two-plus-hour set doesn't include any Sonic Youth songs; instead, it’s made up of abstract improvisational quests and daring interpretations of pieces by such minimalist composers as John Cage, Yoko Ono, Pauline Oliveros and more.
It’s a friends and family affair, with close collaborators like Leah Singer, Wharton Tiers, William Winant, Ikue Mori, Takehisa Kosugi and more showing up to lend a hand. Oh and then there’s Jim O’Rourke, who’s making his debut #SonicSummer appearance — he’ll be onboard for the next few years. Hello, Jim!
This ain’t easy listening, of course, but it’s more playful than pretentious — after all, the Yoko piece is primarily just Kim Gordon shrieking. And there’s plenty of raw beauty, too: the simple, surging swell of James Tenney’s “Having Never Written A Note For Percussion” is an impressive feat of collective energy, the players moving as one through the spaceways. Most of all, SY and their pals seem to be enjoying getting into these strange and beguiling compositions, still searching for unknown vibrations.
Bandcamp | Merch | Concert Chronology
From the Doom & Gloom Archives
Galaxie 500 - CBGB, New York City, December 13, 1988
Primal Galaxie 500! Thanks to Dan for passing along this new-to-me tape of Damon, Naomi and Dean back in the day. Sonic Youth released their Daydream Nation-era set from this evening on the Bowery as part of their live archive series, so this fills out the picture nicely. Like the SY recording, it’s a soundboard, but a wobbly/watery one … a tape flaw or was this how Kramer wanted the band to sound? I wouldn’t put it past him — Wareham’s guitar and vocal kinda sound like they’re being run through a Leslie speaker. (Speaking of which, have you read this bonkers interview with Kramer? You gotta.) Regardless! It’s a really good listen, with G-500 playing a bunch of Today tunes with gusto. Irresistible. Rounding out the tape are a few mystery tracks: an untitled original and a more revved-up rendition of the band’s dynamite “Ceremony” cover. No mercy shown!
Update — Damon K himself has chimed in over on Twitter. Re: the unknown demo, he reports: “I think we recorded On Fire in two batches, the first was a ‘demo’ before our Rough Trade deal — it sounds early-ish to me, given the tempo and musicianship, so without digging through tape boxes I’d guess it was from then? And dropped when we went back to complete the album?” He also shared a memory from the 1988 CBGB show: “At soundcheck, David Licht wasn’t there and Kramer asked for Steve Shelley to check instead but no one could find him - so I sat in the drumchair for BALL. Kramer turned around, saw me and yelled, ‘I want Tony Williams not Max Roach!’”
Oh and hey, lest we forget the recent Galaxie 500 covers extravaganza — which features none other than Thurston Moore. Full fuckin’ circle. Still need to try the G-500 Dogfish Head lager, though.
Currently Reading: Biography of a Phantom: A Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey by Robert “Mack” McCormick (Edited by John Troutman)
I loved that Robert Johnson book. I've been digging your book selections for a while now. Mack's book is a great travelogue through the south as well as an interesting and detailed biography. Of course there's a lot of updated info on Johnson since the 70's. Loved all the maps! I had Google Maps open on my computer before and after reading. I took a trip down there from Canada in 2010 and man I want to go back and see more of the delta. Find myself listening to a lot of blues these days - Mississippi Fred McDowell and Junior Kimbrough. I reassessed the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion album with RL Burnside and man it rocks pretty hard. I love the droney blues from the hill country. Robert Johnson influenced so many greats and he was a giant himself. The sides he cut in the late 30's will live forever.