The MOJO Weird Record Club #13
Ruth White’s Flowers Of Evil (Limelight, 1969)
What’s this? Ruth White is an unsung hero of electronic music. In 1969 she blended her otherworldly sounds with readings of Charles Baudelaire’s poetry.
MOJO says: “Imagine busy fork-lifts in a factory, a pet shop on fire and the ear-splitting shrieks of a train on a bad track and you’re getting close to the noises she electronically generated. But in amongst this musical pandemonium there is real beauty. Ruth somehow conveys a real sense of tragedy, longing and an overwhelming sound of synthesized sadness.”
Where can I get it? Original vinyl copies occasionally appear on auction sites.
The MOJO Weird Record Club appears every month in MOJO magazine and is curated and written by Jonny Trunk.
Small Faces Deluxe Editions Due In May
Deluxe editions of Small Faces’ four classic ’60s studio albums will be released on May 7.
Small Faces (Decca, 1966), From The Beginning (Decca, 1967) and Small Faces (Immediate, 1967) will appear in two-disc format while their 1968 masterpiece, Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake, has been expanded to three discs. Each album has been remastered and will contain both the mono and stereo versions of the original tracks alongside a clutch of previously unreleased bonus material. MOJO’s Mark Paytress provides the liner notes and there are new interviews with surviving members Ian McLagan and Kenney Jones.
And just in case you’d forgotten how great this powerhouse of R&B, soul and psychedelia were, here they are tearing the place apart back in 1968:
The MOJO Weird Record Club #12:
Music From Mathematics (Produced By Bell Telephone Laboratories)
What’s this?: Post-World War II, Bell Telephone was an unusual company. Bell had done a lot of wartime radar work, and their white-coated scientists were soon playing about with computer bleeps, audio patterns and “digitised sound”.
MOJO says: “Put the record on and immediately you are transported to a naïve but scientific 1959, where much of the brand new computer music sounds a bit broken. Side one is played music - that’s music composed by a mathematician in a white coat, programmed using little hole-punched cards, and then spat out musically by a big room called the IBM 7090. Side two is when the computers compose their own numbers and even have a little programmed chat about it at the end.”
Where can I get it?: Original vinyl copies occassionally appear on auction sites.
Read the liner notes here.
The MOJO Weird Record Club appears every month in MOJO magazine and is curated and written by Jonny Trunk.
The MOJO Weird Record Club #9:
Santa Claus Is A Black Man (Simtone, 1973)
What’s this?: Made for Simtone in 1973 in New York and credited to Akim and The Teddy Vann Production. Akim is about six years old, and sings with all the gusto of a Sesame Street kid. Adding to this formidable, highly pitched voice are the specially created songs and stories, all penned by talented soul man Teddy Vann.
MOJO says: “The introduction to Santa Claus Is A Black Man is a stunning piece of descriptive funk and jive. Musical proceedings continue with crisp wintery wah-wah and soulful jingle bells. There’s even a psychedelic gospel God Rest You Merry Gentleman.”
Hear the title track below:
The MOJO Weird Record Club appears every month in MOJO magazine and is curated and written by Jonny Trunk.
The MOJO Weird Record Club #8:
John Peel’s BBC Archive Things (BBC, 1970)
What’s this?: This record came about as a result of John Peel’s post-Perfumed Garden show on a fledgling BBC Radio One simply called Night Ride. Beamed out every Wednesday between midnight and 1am, the show’s musical policy was “whatever fits”. An average broadcast might include avant-pop, spoken word, harsh modern classical compositions and some electronics. It was decided to put the audience favourites onto BBC vinyl. Most of the artists were unknown.
MOJO says: “This challenging LP was a milestone in broadcasting and a wild, free-form approach to playlisting and compiling. With dark children’s nursery rhymes, Wellington boot dances performed by Zulus in South Africa and a unusual Austrian chap who imitates a brass band among the tracks, it showcases Peel’s eclectic taste and has to be one of the strangest listens you could ever wish to endure.”
Where can I get it?: Vinyl copies occasionally appear via auction sites.
The MOJO Weird Record Club appears every month in MOJO magazine and is curated and written by Jonny Trunk.
Tim Buckley - Song to the Siren (1968)
Our This Mortal Coil feature in the new issue of the magazine has sent us back to the source of their 1983 single, Song to the Siren. Check out this mesmerising clip of the man who wrote the song.
10 years gone. George Harrison, February 25, 1943 – November 29, 2001.
There’s always time to revisit this lovely clip from 1976.
Happy Friday everyone.
What have The Rolling Stones, Can, This Mortal Coil, Todd Rundgren, MOJO’s review of 2011, Roy Harper, PJ Harvey, Nile Rodgers, DJ Shadow, The Black Keys, Roy Wood and Johnny Marr all got in common? Well, they are all featured in the new issue of MOJO. Which looks like… this!
The MOJO Weird Record Club #6:
The Addicts Sing (Word, 1963)
Who?: The Addicts rose up from the hard streets of the Bronx in around 1963. They came from mental institutions, prisons, safe houses and rehab camps. The group was the brainchild of reformed heroin addict John Gimenez. Together, as a unit of nine drug-free men, they would bring their true-life dramas and experiences to people everywhere.
MOJO says: “Like a sort of religious drug caberet on tour… it’s true that few of the nine Addicts can sing, but rarely will you have heard such boundless conviction in song. There’s almost a cheerful doo-wop edge to a couple of the numbers, and their worthy rendition of the standard I Believe has an unnerving, frightening quality that’s difficult to pin down”.
Where can I get it?: Original vinyl copies sometimes appear on auction sites.
Hear You Are The Finger Of God below:
Check out the back cover and another track from the album here.
The MOJO Weird Record Club appears every month in MOJO magazine and is curated and written by Jonny Trunk.
MOJO’s One Hit Wonders #4:
Artist/band: Noel Harrison
Track: The Windmills Of Your Mind
Date: February 26, 1969
Chart position: 8
The lowdown: First heard on the soundtrack of 1968’s The Thomas Crown Affair, The Windmills Of Your Mind took on a life of its own in the UK in 1969. Michel Legrand’s beautifully circular melody was complemented by Marilyn and Alan Bergman’s elegiac lyrics. The reflective mood was sealed by Noel ‘Son Of Rex’ Harrison’s wistful vocals. Windmills… spent 14 weeks in the UK Top 40, but there was no follow up-hit.
To read the full story of The Windmills Of My Mind, check out MOJO ’60s Volume 2 - on sale now.
Don’t forget - we look back at more one hit wonders every month in MOJO magazine.
