Enjoy The Experience

Welcome to a world of neglected musical misfits and bargain bin freaks; the LSD soaked lounge crooner, the astral trippin’ cowboy, the electronic porno balladeer, the psychedelic disco queen, the yodelling yoga teacher and the queer cult leader ......

For the last couple of weeks I've been leafing through an oddly enjoyable book called “Enjoy The Experience” by Johan Kugelberg. It's probably the most definitive handbook of 'odd' I've read. The book (which is lavishly presented) collects the lost fragments and faded dreams of a thousand or so obscure musicians who, despite having no record deal, released their own unique and occasionally brilliant recordings on an unsuspecting and largely indifferent world. It’s a fascinating story, populated by ordinary people with strange dreams and like the most interesting outsider art, the very best of these private press records have a raw immediacy and visionary power seldom heard (or seen for that matter) in the mainstream. If you're looking for a bumper book of weird and ‘out there’ graphic strangeness, this is the book for you. Unmediated by graphic design convention or artifice, many of the record covers function as highly illogical, off-kilter archetypes or pictorial missives of zoned-out eccentricity which perfectly mirror the highly personal and curious music contained within their respective custom made grooves. A plethora of weird gear idiosyncrasies elevate several of the designs beyond the mundane and into the sublime creating a ‘higher key’ vernacular graphic art of blurred amateur photography, awkward layouts, visionary typography and peaked ‘stare at the sun’ high school illustration.

Weird gear all round.

If you’re a seeker of eccentric vibrations from the late 1960s and 1970s this book is pretty much essential. Seek out.

“Enjoy the Experience” by Johan Kugelberg is published by Sinecure Books.

Roof 1976 – 79

Iran:RPM Soundtrack Design From A Pre-revolutionary Iran

Here's a selection of images from a wonderful book I picked up recently which documents the design of Iranian soundtracks records prior to the 1979 revolution entitled Iran:RPM. What's particularly striking about the book, is that it reveals an emerging popular culture in which traditional and modern values have collided into vibrant and unique forms of expression. Many of these 'graphical' hybrids succinctly illustrate the sheer unexpected range of conflicting cultural ideologies which were present within pre-revolutionary Iran; with lurid sexploitation, cop show theatrics, feminist politics, existential protest song and Persian epics sitting uneasily together to form a most curious and rewarding trip into the hidden cultural history of a pre-revolutionary Iran.

Iran:RPM is published by Magic of Persia with the sponsorship of Salsali Private Museum and Avantgardeglobal.

OnOff

A superb weird gear experimental film from 1967 which I discovered via John Coulthartt's often inspired weekend links. Retina gloopage of the highest order. Enjoy.

Up Mix

For those that like their music 'Up', here's another finely curated mix of Italian film, radio and television music from the 1960's and 1970's by Dee [formerly David] Thrussell [head curator of the rather  fine Omni Recording Corporation and front person of Oz 'kinky electronic pop' combo Snog]. Peek here for the companion mix 'Down'.

Up Mix

1. Eco Spaziale #2 - Pietro Grossi
2. La Via Della Droga (seq. 7) - Goblin
3. Stridulum (titoli) - Franco Micalizzi
4. Pronti Per L'Agguato (versione 2) - Franco Micalizzi
5. Vocalisation - Alessandro Alessandroni
6. Spiagge Azzurre - Alessandro Alessandroni
7. Il Colore Degli Angeli - Berto Pisano
8. Playgirl '70 (party music 1) - Piero Piccioni
9. Casanova '70 (finale) - Armando Trovaioli
10. Cavallina a Cavallo - Ennio Morricone
11. Gli Angeli Del 2000 - Mario Molino
12. Preludietto - Alessandro Alessandroni
13. La Guerre Est Finie - Giovanni Fusco
14. I Sovversivi (titoli) - Giovanni Fusco
15. Un Tranquilo Di Campagna (#2) - Ennio Morricone
16. Dedicato Al Mare Egeo - Ennio Morricone
17. Hiasmina - Berto Pisano & Jacques Chaumont
18. Oh My Love - Riz Ortolani (featuring Katyna Ranieri)
19. Stacchi Polizieschi #1 - Pietro Grossi

Vintage Synth Graphics

"These old synth ad's and papers were found in a box headed for the dump ....." via this rather fine flickr set. 

Suxo Plexo Muxo Mix

Few vinyl archaeologists dig deeper than Andy Votel and when he suggested A Sound Awareness host this mix I was pretty much 'dancing on the ceiling with joy'. Originally aired on Jonny Trunk's OST Show on Resonance FM in March 2013, 'Suxo Plexo Muxo' features a zoned out mix of Eastern European cinematic oddities, weird eye Giallo schlock, Parisian art house freak folk and a plethora underexposed and uncharted celluloid wonders from around the world which will send even the most avid sound collector scouring the crates for years to come.

As always, hats off to Finders Keepers and Trunk Records for the kind permissions. Artwork remixed by myself and Mr. Votel using a few of the rather fine images on display here.

Dig, delve and enjoy!

Suxo Plexo Muxo Mix

Ryszard Kiwerski

Has a monograph ever been published on the work of Polish graphic designer Ryszard Kiwerski? These photomontages are simply stunning. If you knows of one please get in touch!

Music For Children

Recorded in 1958 and originally issued across two long playing lp’s, these recordings of Schulwerk or ‘elemental music’ performed by the Children of the Italia Conte School, the Children’s Percussion Ensemble and Chorus Of The Children’s Opera Group are simply some of the most beautiful musical compositions I’ve ever heard. ‘Music For Children’ was borne out of Carl Orff’s progressive ideas regarding the educational development of children through ‘active’ learning. Originating in the early 1930’s when Orff and his assistant Gunild Keetman were in charge of musical instruction at Günter Schule in Munich, Orff encouraged pupils to develop a practical understanding of rhythm, melody, harmony, texture, form and the beauty of sound through music, dance and gymnastics. Many of the compositions included within this collection stand testament to his singular educational vision and the way in which his creative use of intuitive learning could transform a classroom into a place of wonder and enchantment. The music is evocative, magically transfigured by the simplest of means with poems, rhymes, games, songs and dances spoken or sung with the barest of musical accompaniment. Wooden xylophones and metal glockenspiels create simple modal ostinatos which hover and shimmer in bewitchingly seductive patterns. Complex rhythmic patterns are stamped or clapped out using non-pitched percussion instruments such as hands, drums, sticks, or bells. The results are startlingly beautiful. Compositions were developed through playful and intuitive experimentation, children were actively encouraged to explore musical possibilities through play and improvisation rather than through any restrictive or formal educational process. This music breathes an innocence out of step with our modern world. Another sublime Trunk release.

All I Have Learned And Forgotten Again

For the past fortnight or so I've been leafing through the pages of this beautifully presented monograph on the renowned Swedish artist Jockum Nordström. Comprising of almost a hundred works, the book is a strange unfolding hinterland of oddly poetic images. Objects, animals and people are painted, drawn and collaged into uncanny, open-ended narratives. There is a peculiar yet appealing discomposure to much of Nordström's work. His images manage to marry a finely tuned sense of draughtsmanship with an oddly naïve charm creating a disconcerting visual landscape populated by owls, stark Modernist architecture, tall ships, and Victorian Dandies. With each successive image, Nordström presents a liminal world of strange frailties where folk art charm sits uneasily next to the peccadilloes of an industrial age, a world where despite the forest of suburban signifiers, the feeling is very much pre electric, otherworldly  and magical. A superb publication.

All I Have Learned And Forgotten Again is published by Hatje Cantz

For more info on Jockum Nordström, see previous posts here, here and here.