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$17.99 CD
$17.99 CD
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SECOND HAND
Death May Be Your Santa Claus
(Sunbeam)
CHILLUM
Chillum + Bonus Tracks
(Sunbeam)
The story of Second Hand and Chillum connects names, bands, and places in the Other Music omniverse as if someone had made it up out of the sake of convenience. What other unknown bands would you encounter that link mind-bending progressive rock, bleeding edge psych folkie Simon Finn, proto hip-hop madman Frankie Dymon Jr., and the NWW List? Just these two, my friends, just these two -- an amazing collection of circumstances dug from beneath the floorboards of British underground rock. Following the means enforced by necessity -- independent labels, hand-stenciled record sleeves, miniscule pressings -- these releases predate a movement in DIY music that could barely be fathomed back in the early '70s, when these records were first available.
Second Hand got its start out of school kids quickly learning how to play rock 'n' roll during the cultural explosion of the mid 1960s. Originally known as the Moving Finger, the South London group won a contest that granted them studio time with now-legendary producer Vic Keary. So impressed by their songwriting and instrumental prowess, not to mention their age (each member was around 15 or 16 at the time of their introduction) that Keary took the band under his wing, shooting for a deal with Apple. When that failed, Polydor stepped up -- barely -- and released the group's first album, Reality, in 1969. Despite making what is now known as one of the best hard-psych records of the '60s, and a harbinger of prog to come, its availability was meager at best, the band receiving little to no support from their label, and a constant stream of lineup changes and tragedies kept them from playing too many live shows. Nevertheless, the band was asked to star in and contribute music to an experimental film, entitled Death May Be Your Santa Claus, directed by Frankie Dymon Jr., that same year. Outside of festival screenings, the film was barely seen, though Keary stayed on board, and thought enough of the bonkers prog hustle and ingenious arrangements that he formed the Mushroom label to release the album. Aside from a folk sampler, a Lol Coxhill session, and Simon Finn's deranged Pass the Distance, the second Second Hand record, and its follow-up as Chillum, were among the only titles on the label.
Death May Be Your Santa Claus fully belongs in the pantheon of the most revered progressive rock records of the early '70s, with an inventive streak several miles wide, a bag full of instruments, and the ability to use them to dramatic heights. Breakneck carnival organ, a rhythm section that's beyond tight (the percussion breaks on "Somethin' You Got" give any discoveries on the B-Music/Andy Votel/Cherrystones axis a serious run for their money), and a dizzying instrumental suite that took up the entire second side of the album show a band so pent up with great ideas -- and so obviously frustrated that the rest of the world couldn't take notice. It's so inventive, you'll barely notice the complete absence of electric guitar, though the band surely didn't -- their original guitarist, Bob Gibbons, was forced to quit the band before these sessions due to the death of his father. Only 3000 copies were pressed, over a year after the film was released, and the band collapsed into obscurity.
Unfazed, despite poverty and an inclination to smoke massive amounts of grass, the core Second Hand trio held auditions for a guitarist in an effort to continue on. As Chillum, only one release was realized, before the band broke up altogether. But what a record! Recorded at guitarist Tony McGill's audition with the band, the Chillum album is a nonstop headtrip of improvised, art-damaged, manic instrumental rock. Anchored by two epic-length tracks (opener "Brain Strain" running a full 22 minutes), it's a journey into the psyches of some incredibly talented individuals, who'd never really be heard from in such a capacity again. "Brain Strain" weaves and bobs through descending scales and a full rhythmic assault, a newcomer to bands altogether meeting up with a seasoned combo and conversing, first with hesitation, then with full-on vocabulary, like the four of them had been playing together for years. If the record seems like a patchwork of whatever could be cobbled together (right down to its spray-painted sleeve and anonymous insert photo of the band members at a urinal), the truth is that it was, but its grime belies incredible focus. That one of the 1000 copies of the Chillum LP made its way to the Nurse w/ Wound list isn't much of a surprise once you hear it -- hardly anything could match it, home or abroad, then or now. Bonus tracks and well-researched liner notes fill out both releases as must-have rediscoveries for your next galactic ramble. [DM]
Order Second Hand CD by Texting "omcdseconddeath" to 767825
Order Chillum CD by Texting "omcdchillumchillum" to 767825 |
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