Author Archives: Joseph Neff

Remembering Denny Laine. —Ed.

Though the music they produced was only fitfully successful, the Denny Laine-fronted incarnation of The Moody Blues deserves to be remembered for more than a momentary chart fling topped by a gem of a single. In ’65 they released an album at home and another in the US under distinct titles, both holding a dozen tracks and with a third of each LP also unique. The better of the two, Go Now–The Moody Blues #1, was issued in the States by London Records.

Heavy on covers and by extension lacking in gestures toward originality, the ’64-’66-era Moody Blues are unlikely to be many people’s (I’ll stop short of saying anybody’s) most beloved component in the British Invasion. In fact, talk of the group today reliably focuses on the post-Denny Laine/Clint Warwick lineup that saw new members John Lodge and Justin Hayward helping to transmogrify the Moodies into one of the leading if artistically lesser examples of Symphonic Rock. I won’t sully the Prog genre with an inapt association since there was hardly anything progressive about The Moody Blues Mk 2.

Instead, they exemplified the Middlebrow impulse, though that’s ultimately a separate discussion. This piece concerns a band that came together when the leader of Denny Laine and the Diplomats joined up with a bunch of nameless Birmingham hopefuls, their main desire hitting it big or even just making a good living; they briefly played as the M & B 5, the initials an attempt at landing sponsorship from two local beer brewers (last names Mitchell and Butler). And similar to many of their contemporaries, The Moody Blues’ method at least initially was the borrowing and alteration of Rhythm and Blues.

And they did storm the charts with “Go Now,” in the process overtaking in popularity the terrific Leiber and Stoller-produced original by Bessie Banks, though the idea of the cover destroying the source’s commercial hopes is basically a myth. Banks’ tune was released by the Tiger label in January of ’64 while The Moody Blues’ version didn’t emerge until the following November, eventually peaking at #10 in the US in February of ’65 (it took top Brit honors a month earlier).

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If fusion can be accurately assessed as the dominant jazz development of the 1970s, free jazz was still making waves, although the progressions were increasingly based in community rather than through dalliances with major labels. A fine example has just been given a very welcome vinyl reissue by Wewantsounds of Paris, in collaboration with Corbett vs. Dempsey of Chicago. Funky Donkey Vol. 1 by the Luther Thomas Human Arts Ensemble is a wild excursion into free funk and spiritual-tinged avant gush. It’s a record with beaucoup historical connections and we outline them below.

Collectivity in jazz stretches all the way back to New Orleans, but in the era after bop, the leaderless impulse is most commonly associated with the Art Ensemble of Chicago as an outgrowth from the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians), though numerous other groups were following similar paths.

There was Air (saxophonist Henry Threadgill, bassist Fred Hopkins and drummer Steve McCall), Circle (pianist Chick Corea, bassist Dave Holland, drummer Barry Altschul, saxophonist Anthony Braxton), the Creative Construction Company (trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, violinist Leroy Jenkins, pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, bassist Richard Davis, Braxton, and McCall), the Revolutionary Ensemble (bassist Sirone, percussionist-pianist Jerome Cooper, Jenkins), and the Sea Ensemble (saxophonist-clarinetist Donald Garrett and multi-instrumentalist Kali Fasteau).

Add to the list the two outfits contributing to Funky Donkey Vol. 1, the Human Arts Ensemble and the St. Louis Creative Ensemble as they shared the same stomping grounds and both had ties to the AACM (there was a strong Chicago-St. Louis bond) and the Black Artists’ Group, a huge AACM-like collective that many know for In Paris, Aries 1973. That LP was cut by saxophonist Oliver Lake, trumpeters Baikida Carroll and Floyd LeFlore, trombonist Joseph Bowie, and drummer Charles “Bobo” Shaw, all members of the BAG.

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New York City’s Comateens cut three full-length albums in the early 1980s, two of them for major label Virgin. They are often mentioned when the subject turns to synth-punk. Before that however, when guitarist-vocalist Romona Jan was in the group, they cut an early single that’s getting the limited edition reissue treatment December 5 on 12-inch vinyl (90 copies orange, 200 black) through Left for Dead Records. “Danger Zone” b/w “Elizabeth’s Lover” combines a punky mover with a new wavy flip and is exactly the sort of thing fans of the pre-hardcore punk/wave scene will want on their shelf.

If the name Romona Jan rings a bell, that might be because she was in both Dizzy and the Romilars and the Nastyfacts, with Left for Dead reissuing the latter band’s “Drive My Car” single on limited 12-inch vinyl just last year; ‘twas a very hep release reviewed in this very column. Jan also chalked up extensive experience as an engineer-producer, and counted The Ramones amongst her fans.

Jan was only in Comateens long enough to cut that first single, but let’s make clear that Left for Dead’s reissue nixes “Cool Chick,” a nifty dose of cold wave chilliness complete with the drum machine action that was an integral component in the band’s scheme circa the first LP. “Cool Chick” is replaced with an early, previously unreleased version of “Elizabeth’s Lover,” a song Jan rerecorded with Dizzy and the Romilars. This initial take was cut during the same session that produced the single.

The omission of “Cool Chick” might bug some potential buyers, but it’s pretty clear that Left for Dead has chosen to focus on Jan’s contribution to the early Comateens (she does contribute to the ’79 version of “Cool Chick,” but the song was written by Diana Dominicci). And focusing on Jan is a savvy gesture, primarily because she stuff she wrote and plays on is quite spiff, but it also corrects the historical record, as many band bios neglect to mention her involvement in Comateens.

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Tompkins Square’s knack for bringing fresh fingerpicking talent to light continues with the December 8 release of I Kept These Old Blues, the first album by Ireland’s Muireann Bradley. Deft and intense on the strings and with a strong, emotionally resonant voice, Bradley is part of a younger generation that’s busy putting a personal stamp on traditions roughly a century old, which is how it’s always been done. Across a dozen tracks she tackles a handful of acoustic blues heavyweights and she more than holds her own. Available on vinyl, CD, cassette, and digital, it’s a recording poised to leave aficionados of the form feeling good.

There’s really nothing mysterious about how this stellar album of acoustic blues fingerpicking by the young Irishwoman Muireann Bradley (she lives in Ballybofey in County Donegal) came about. She learnt the instrument and the blues from her father starting at age nine. Then she practiced. Then she put the instrument down as her focus shifted to training and competing in combat sports. As Covid emerged, she picked the guitar back up again with renewed vigor. A YouTube video was made. Josh Rosenthal, who runs Tompkins Square, a sharp recognizer of talent, came a calling. This record was cut.

The lack of the enigmatic doesn’t make Bradley’s achievement any less impressive, particularly as she’s 16 years old (or thereabouts). Bradley mentions that she wrote out a list of tunes to learn and then set to work, with the first one “Police Dog Blues” by Blind Blake. That was the song in the first YouTube video (there are now numerous videos), and the recording of it here, sequenced third on the album, is a dexterous dazzler keeping close to Blake’s instrumental template, though Bradley sensibly makes lyrical adjustments.

Bradley sings with confident sass (much closer to the coffeehouse than the nightclub) but keeps it in check as the fingerpicking never takes a back seat. This all comes through with clarity in opener “Candyman,” her splendid take of the oft-recorded chestnut by Reverend Gary Davis. And from a pure guitar standpoint, the most impressive tracks here are I Kept These Old Blues’ two instrumentals, “Vestapol,” a traditional tune in an arrangement by Stefan Grossman, and “Buck Dancer’s Choice” by Sam McGee in an arrangement by John Fahey.

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Having chalked up many hours playing in country & western bands, pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn’s recorded output, which is considerable, is stylistically wide-ranging as it emanates from the avant-garde. Her latest CD is Canto, available now through the Relative Pitch label. It’s a striking set documenting Alcorn’s trip to Chile to play with free improvisors and folk musicians in a group she named Septeto del Sur. Five original compositions including the titular suite and one interpretation of a song by the great Chilean folk singer and cornerstone of the nueva canción movement Victor Jara broaden Alcorn’s sound in unexpected ways.

Baltimorean Susan Alcorn’s discography begins in 2000 with her debut CD Uma. Also released that year, she played on Eugene Chadbourne’s “To Doug” 7-inch, a tribute to the exemplary Texan Doug Sahm. Since, she’s recorded with Chadbourne on additional occasions (as who wouldn’t seize the opportunity) and with a diverse list of heavyweights on the avant scene: Pauline Oliveros, Ellen Fullman, Michael Formanek, Mary Halvorson, Nate Wooley, Joe McPhee, Ken Vandermark, Ellery Eskelin, Ingrid Laubrock, Janel Leppin, Astroturf Noise, and Jandek.

Those esteemed collaborators could lead one to assume Alcorn excels at abstraction, and yes, that’s right, and yes, free improv is a part of Canto’s stylistic weave. But this disc is also extremely solid compositionally, with Chilean folk, including nueva canción, and contemporary classical part of the equation.

Nueva canción chilena was a 1960s-’70s leftist movement with a prominent musical component that took influence from traditional Chilean folk (the nueva canción impulse also emerged in Argentina, Cuba, Spain, Catalonia and Nicaragua). Amongst the best-known exponents of nueva canción chilena are Violeta Parra, Rolando Alarcón, Isabel Parra, Patricio Castillo and of course Victor Jara, who was brutally tortured and murdered after Augusto Pinochet seized power in Chile in 1973.

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The We Are Busy Bodies of Toronto, Canada, in connection with As-Shams/The Sun Records of Johannesburg, South Africa, have indeed been quite active as they curate the As-Shams Archive Series of 1970s South African jazz sounds. The three newest entries, all available now, spotlight saxophonists Winston Mankunku Ngozi and Mike Makhalemele. Alex Express is Ngozi’s album (backed by The Cliffs), The Peacemaker is Makhalemele’s, and the two come together on The Bull and the Lion. Ears attuned to the mingling of jazzy expansiveness and funky groove flow should check out all three.

By my count, the records covered here are the seventh, eighth, and ninth entries in the As-Shams Archive Series, and it’s safe to speculate that folks into Creed Taylor’s CTI productions from the same era and Real Gone Music’s recent reissues of the ’70s indie Black Jazz label will find the sounds offered here of interest. Of the two saxophonists, tenor-man Ngozi was the first to record, so it’s with him that we’ll begin.

His debut was Yakhal’ Inkomo, cut in July 1968 (issued the following year) with the Mankunku Quartet, its four selections clearly influenced by John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, and the mainstream heyday of Blue Note Records. This set was quickly followed by the Chris Schilder Quintet’s Spring, cut in November of ’68 (also issued in ’69) with Ngozi on sax, a very likeable dive into post-bop/modal jazz. After that emergence onto the scene, there was a sizable gap in recording until Alex Express was released in ’75.

Alex Express is a decidedly different affair, with its five tracks likely to hit soul jazz mavens right in their sweet spot. The Cliffs feature Ngozi, here on alto sax, alongside two trumpeters, Stompie Manana and George Tyefumani, organist Roger Khoza, guitarist Allen Kwela, bassist Philip Kiti, and drummer Peter Jackson, and they establish a template that’s grooving but thankfully lacking in slickness and more crucially, there are no flourishes of overplaying.

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Amongst the handful of important UK fingerpickers to have emerged in the ’60s and early ’70s, Dave Evans’ output is not the highest of profile, though his story is very interesting and his tight discography quite rewarding. His second LP Elephantasia, originally released by The Village Thing label in 1972, is getting a first-time reissue on LP, CD, and digital November 24 through Earth Recordings. Fans of Bert Jansch, Wizz Jones, Michael Chapman, Bill Fay, and Nick Drake do take note.

Dave Evans lived a busy, bohemian lifestyle before he ever released an album. A sailor in the merchant navy (rising to Third Mate), collegian (art school, in fact), operator of a folk club, pottery maker, guitar builder, and vintner, Evans, who was briefly married to Brit folk singer-guitarist Julie Felix (contributing songs to two of her albums), eventually moved to the English city of Bristol to reunite with college friend and fellow guitarist and singer Steve Tilston.

The story is that Evans’ playing on Tilston’s debut album from 1971, An Acoustic Confusion, impressed The Village Thing co-founder Ian A. Anderson enough that he was given the opportunity to cut a record of his own, which essentially meant playing in Anderson’s basement, where there was a Revox reel-to-reel machine and two microphones at the ready; The Words in Between was released later that year.

Evans’ discography can essentially be cleaved in two. The Words in Between and Elephantasia are the first half, with both albums placing roughly equal emphasis on Evans’ abilities as a singer and as a guitarist. Of the two, Elephantasia has a slightly more psychedelic atmosphere, giving it a very minor edge over The Words in Between.

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To our great benefit, Zev Feldman is a tireless excavator of jazz brilliance, often from the bandstand, and the fruits of his labor have become a Record Store Day staple. For Black Friday 2023, he has four releases available: Maximum Swing: The Unissued 1965 Half Note Recordings by Wes Montgomery and the Wynton Kelly Trio (3LP, Resonance Records), Tales – Live in Copenhagen (1964) by Bill Evans (single LP, Elemental Records), Emerald City Nights: Live at the Penthouse 1966-1968 by Ahmad Jamal (2LP, Jazz Detective / Elemental), and Catch the Groove: Live at the Penthouse 1963-1967 by Cal Tjader (3LP, Jazz Detective / Elemental). All are limited editions, so prepare accordingly. CDs follow for all December 1.

Tales – Live in Copenhagen (1964) is the eleventh release of archival music by Bill Evans that Zev Feldman has been a part of in connection with the pianist’s son Evan Evans, and the second this year, as Treasures: Solo, Trio & Orchestra Recordings From Denmark (1965-1969) was released by Elemental for Record Store Day as a 3LP set in April. Eleven releases is a high number that gets to the core nature of jazz and the depth of Evans’ artistry.

The largeness and breadth of Treasures might steal a little thunder from the trim focus of Tales, particularly as the latter features bassist Chuck Israels and drummer Larry Bunker in a trio that’s fairly well-documented, first on Bill Evans Trio at Shelly’s Manne-Hole, Hollywood, California prior to the Copenhagen trip and on Trio ’65 after.

But the reality is that if a trio brought together by Evans made it to the point of performance or recording, they were worth hearing every time they played, for every time would be unique, if also familiar. Succinctly, the music transcends a leader-backing scenario as the three players are in constant expressive communication, navigating and elevating the structure of each song. But they’re not striving to be different, instead just collectively attempting to give the song the best performance possible.

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Pianist, arranger, composer, bandleader: Canadian-born Gil Evans stands as one of the most important orchestrators in the history of jazz. Perhaps most famous for his work with Miles Davis, Evans was a versatile creator who could easily adapt to new stylistic developments and then push the music further forward. Cut in 1957, Gil Evans & Ten is his debut as a leader, establishing his work as vivid and distinctive. Getting a limited edition mono repress on 180 gram vinyl for Record Store Day Black Friday 2023, it’s a superb point of entry into the artistry of a master.

Gil Evans is the arranger on Miles Davis’ Birth of the Cool, which features recordings made in 1949-’50, most of them released on a series of 78rpm discs but compiled on LP for the first time in ’57 by Capitol, the same year that Miles Ahead, Evans’ second collaboration with Davis, which brought the trumpeter together with a 19-piece orchestra, was released by Columbia.

The knockout success of Miles Ahead and the rekindled interest in Birth of the Cool were certainly a major factor in Evans recording his first album as leader that same year. Miles Ahead was cut over a series of sessions in May of ’57 (released in October) while Gil Evans & Ten was recorded across three sessions in September and October of ’57 (released early the following year), with the albums sharing a handful of personnel.

Heard on both are trumpeter John Carisi, trombonist Jimmy Cleveland, French horn player Willie Ruff, alto saxophonist Lee Konitz (listed on Evans & Ten under the pseudonymous anagram Zeke Tolin), and bassist Paul Chambers. For his debut, Evans sits down at the bench, which was frequent on his own early releases (for Miles Ahead, it’s Wynton Kelly on piano).

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Based in New York City, The Du-Rites are the funk-centric duo of Jay Mumford on drums, keyboards, and percussion and Pablo Martin on guitar, bass guitar, and synthesizer. They’ve released seven albums since joining forces and Old Maid Entertainment / Ilegalia Records’ release of “Go Funk Me” b​/​w “Bucket” brings 7-inch number eight to their discography. Offering two club movers, the platter can be purchased through the duo’s Bandcamp singly, in a pair via the Cuttin’ Doubles discount for DJs, in a combo with their groove-tastic LP from last year Plug It In, and as a signed test pressing in an edition of three, all available now. Fans of classic funk with contemporary vitality should investigate.

The Du-Rites is shaped up by two musical long-haulers, with Pablo Martin a mastering engineer, guitarist for Tom Tom Club, and half of Lulu Lewis with his partner Dylan Hundley. Jay Mumford’s studio experience as engineer and producer for a wide range of hip-hop artists is extensive as he released a slew of recordings in the genre as J-Zone.

Around 2011, Mumford began playing the drums as he transitioned away from hip-hop, and in due time, he started working as a studio and touring drummer, contributing to sessions for Danger Mouse and Dan Auerbach and playing live with Adrian Quesada of the Black Pumas. Additionally, he cut a series of highly regarded drum break records, and since 2013 has collaborated with Martin in The Du-Rites, an avenue of expression Mumford considers his “heartbeat.”

As a funky endeavor, The Du-Rites tap familiar territory for inspiration. Although there is a vocal component to their sound, the duo operate a bit like Josie-era Meters but with an atmosphere that’s tangibly nearer to the now and in fact is a bit reminiscent of Money Mark Nishita, who just happens to be a guest on Plug It In.

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A large, percussion heavy ensemble from Senegal’s capital city of Dakar, Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff is releasing their debut album Magg Tekki on November 10 through the Sing a Song Fighter label of Stockholm, Sweden and Mississippi Records of Portland, OR. If the rhythmic groove is musically paramount to this band, the palette is broad as it features vocals, saxophone, flute, balafon, accordion, and kora in a deftly honed mix. Aficionados of international sound, here’s another one for the shelf.

For Magg Tekki, Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff feature poet Djiby Ly, Aziz Gning, Oscar Gomes and Alladı N’diaye on vocals, along with Dieugue Diop, Henry Coly, Vincent Mendy, Babacar Nging, Seydou Dia, François Bass, Abdoulahad Faye, Joacheme Mendy, Ndongo Faye, Laye Mangane, Bapis Faye and Japha as the percussion core, plus Djiby Ly on flute, and Ibrahima Camarra on balafon.

Additionally, there are contributions from Lina Langendorf on saxophone, Amanda Fritzén on accordion, Abdou Cissokho and Lamine Cissokho on kora, and Karl Jonas Winqvist, the Swedish musician and archivist who operates Sing a Song Fighter, on bells and rattles. Gning, Gomis, Ly, Mendy, N’diaye, and Abdou Cissokho are credited with individually composing Magg Tekki’s ten tracks.

The assurance on display is especially impressive given that this is the outfit’s first record, but then again, their impact on Dekar’s nightlife is described as considerable, a statement that rings true as it seems unlikely that a collective could bring this kind of heat without ample preparation. Opener “La Musique Du C​œ​ur” immediately establishes the primacy of the rhythm followed closely by a lead-backing vocal exchange and then horns brightening the groove.

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Remembering Bert Jansch in advance of his birthdate tomorrow.
—Ed.

There might be no better time than the present to be a record collecting fan of Bert Jansch. Vinyl reissues from all stages of the Brit-folk guitar linchpin’s career have been flowing into the racks for a while now, and we’re currently experiencing a crescendo of material from the late singer-songwriter.

The 1960s was flush with fingerpickers, and Bert Jansch was amongst the very best. Adding to his appeal, the Scottish troubadour was also a capable vocalist, solid songwriter, and a deft collaborator, first teaming with fellow guitarist John Renbourn; in short order the duo co-founded the progressive folk combo Pentangle.

Jansch’s eponymous debut and its follow-up It Don’t Bother Me, both issued in 1965, have endured as classics, and for those wishing to become conversant with the man’s work, they are the place to begin; last year Superior Viaduct issued the LPs singly, and both will be part of Earth Recordings’ upcoming box set of Jansch’s output for the Transatlantic label.

This period remains the most lauded stretch in the guitarist’s oeuvre, in part due to its consistency and sharpness of focus. 1966 brought third album Jack Orion, which both extends from and contrasts with its predecessor, the opening strains of banjo in “The Waggoner’s Lad” picking up where It Don’t Bother Me’s finale “900 Miles” left off. The instrumental switch intertwines productively with Renbourn’s guitar, as his role, having commenced on the prior disc’s “Lucky Thirteen,” is deepened across four Jack Orion cuts to positive effect.

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Formed in Sacramento, CA in the wind down of indie pop act California Oranges, Soft Science released their first full-length CD in 2011. Twelve years later, the band’s fourth album Lines is freshly available on vinyl, CD, and digital through Shelflife Records of Portland, OR with some international help from Fastcut Records in Japan and Spinout Nuggets in the UK. The sound is a blend of gal-voiced dreampop and shoegaze, with ten tracks given the lush and large treatment. While the equation isn’t new, Soft Science have discovered a few pathways to success in a well-trodden field and throw in a few welcome twists along the way.

In “Low,” Soft Science opens Lines with bold dreampop sweep, a slow motion swirling glide that, when turned up loud, connects like it could envelop and carry the listener away. It’s something of a prelude and also a bookend with the record’s closing track “Polar,” as what’s between leans into the melodic side of the dreampop spectrum.

This is exactly the scenario with “Grip,” a catchy and breathy bit of ’80s action that’s fortified with sheets of shoegazing amp gush. Katie Haley hits a nice balance of pop urgency and the ethereal, a combo that extends to “Deceiver” as the tempo slows and the track is awash in echo, the barbed edges keeping the sweetness in check.

It’s the fast-moving “Sadness,” with its currents of indie pop, that gives Lines a beneficial boost of energy as Haley’s singing keeps the progression focused. Matt Levine’s guitar gets especially raw in the midsection of “Kerosene” (note: not a Big Black cover), contrasting well with the synth and the electronics, which are credited to Ross Levine and Hans Munz, respectively. Bassist Becky Cale and drummer Tony Cale (Soft Science is truly a band of siblings) deliver the right amount of heft and propulsion.

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“The Return of Walter Daniels Meets Jack Oblivian and The Shieks” delivers exactly what the title promises, the 5-song, 33 1/3 RPM 7-inch from Black & Wyatt Records of Memphis extending a collaboration that reaches back to the mid-’90s, combining Daniels’ mouth harp and singing with the garage punk organizational acumen of Jack Oblivian. Featuring five inspired covers, this one’s a total keeper, available now or as soon as the wax arrives from Spain.

The background of Walter Daniels is extensive. Based in Austin, he first hit vinyl in the mid-’80s blowing bluesy, amped harmonica on “The Poor Man’s ZZ Top!,” the final 45 by punkers The Ideals, and did the same on Waltz​-​a​-​Cross​-​Dress Texas, the second LP by the noted cowpunk band Hickoids. But it was in the following decade that Daniels really broke out with numerous records, short and long, on a bunch of labels including Estrus and Sympathy for the Record Industry.

It was Sympathy that first teamed Daniels with The Oblivians and Monsieur Jeffrey Evans (of Gibson Bros. and ’68 Comeback) in ’95 for the 10-inch “At Melissa’s Garage,” which offered five distortion-laden covers of tunes by Juke Boy Bonner, Jackie Morningstar, Marty Robbins, Bo Diddley, and the Big Boys. A 2×7-inch follow-up, “Someday My Prince Will Come,” came in ’94, credited to Evans and ’68 Comeback (of which Jack Oblivian was a member under his birth name Jack Yarber), offering two Evans originals on the first disc and covers of tunes recorded by Ray Charles and Lowell Fulsom on the second.

As The Oblivians stand as one of the swankest of all ’90s garage-punk bands, any subsequent action from Jack is fully worthy of investigation, including his work (retaining the Oblivian moniker) with The Shieks. Released in 2016 by Mony Records (and reissued by Black & Wyatt in 2020), Lone Ranger of Love by the union is a true humdinger of an LP.

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The return to activity of Independent Project Records, founded by musician and graphic designer Bruce Licher way back in 1980, has been one of the sweeter developments on the contemporary scene, especially right now through a handful of vinyl releases that carry forward the label’s magnificent design aesthetic. As the bands are The Ophelias, Shiva Burlesque, and Scenic, the music is fully up to snuff. The Ophelias’ Bare Bodkin 2LP, mastered at 45 rpm, is out now, while Shiva Burlesque’s 2LP Mercury Blues + Skulduggery, and Scenic’s Incident at Cima (Expanded Edition) are both due November 17.

Along with running and creating Independent Project Records’ signature letterpress covers, Bruce Licher played in Savage Republic (after a tour upon reforming in 2002, he left the band), with the sleeves to their records, along with albums by Camper Van Beethoven (their debut Telephone Free Landslide Victory was released by IPR in 1985) helping to establish the look of the Independent Project Press.

The productivity of the press only flourished in the decade to follow as the design work expanded beyond the bands on the label, including Polvo’s “Celebrate the New Dark Age” 3×7-inch, Portastatic’s “Scrapbook” CD EP, Faust’s The Faust Concerts, Vol. 2 CD, Tone – The Guitar Ensemble’s Build and Sustain CDs (IPR split releases with Dischord Records), the Nels Cline Trio’s Ground 3×7-inch, Unrest’s Perfect Teeth 7-inch box set edition, and numerous releases by R.E.M. Since returning to action, IPR’s output has retained the same high quality standard, particularly in the three records under review here.

It was The Ophelias’ self-titled ’87 LP on Strange Weekend Records, with its inspired version of the traditional children’s folk tune “Mister Rabbit” a college radio hit, that helped land them a deal with Rough Trade. The signing surely raised The Ophelias’ profile at the time, but problems at the label eventually leading to bankruptcy negatively impacted the band’s longevity; as reported in David Fricke’s solid notes for Bare Bodkin, the budgets for their second LP Oriental Head (’88 ) and final set The Big O (’89) were pretty meager (the band’s Rough Trade debut was “The Night of Halloween” EP in ’87).

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