Perfect Sound Forever- Dec 07/Jan 08 edition

Time for another edition of my zine so here's the goodies that are being offered up... In the latest issue of Perfect Sound Forever http://www.perfectsoundforever.com, you'll find (among other things):

ARAB ON RADAR

(Not so) Sweet Providence Noise

"As Arab on Radar aren't your typical band, neither are their beginnings. Not only did the band members not know each other, but no one had even played in a band before, making their eventual output all the more impressive. It all began in 1994, when four of the members were applying for jobs at a submarine manufacturing company in Connecticut. None of them got the job, but the grueling hiring tests left them all as friends. They went out to a bar and at the end of the night decided to start a band."

NANCY ELIZABETH

"Nancy Elizabeth is Northern England's most beguiling new folk singer. With enchanting vocal harmonies, a delicately plucked harp, and a self-effacing gracious stage presence, she charmed the Leaf label into releasing the debut album that she battled to record over the course of a year."

IPECAC

"So what do you do when you're the vocalist in one of the great alternative acts of the nineties and your band folds? Lesser singers may well fade into obscurity, not so Mike Patton. With Faith No More out of the way, Mike could concentrate on all the ideas he had been storing up, this time by his own rules and completely free of discipline. The question was who would release this material? "

KALAHARI SURFERS

South African avant-protest

"Warrick Sony first came to public attention in the early 1980s in South Africa as the sole member of the Kalahari Surfers. They release 5 albums of politically radical music with numerous South African session musicians.Many of the albums where released under Chris Cutler's Recommended Records in London as it was too political and anti-apartheid for South Africa at the time.The musicians where credited only by first names in fear of the Apartheid police.The music only available to South Africans on import during the 1980s."

JIMMY MILLER

Classic rock producer supreme

"Even if you don't recognize Jimmy Miller's name, chances are that you've heard his work as a producer on many classic rock tracks over the years. His studio production on such classic rock albums as Mr. Fantasy, Let It Bleed, Blind Faith and Exile on Main Street illustrates that he was one of a handful of individuals, including Phil Spector and George Martin, who defined the sound of sixties and seventies rock & roll."

PARADISE LOST

English Doom Metal masters

"Paradise Lost achieved very much in almost two decades of creativity, from defining the borders of early Doom and Death Metal to the spawning of the Gothic Metal. The band's trips to regions of electronic music show off its daring musical attitude."

SUZI QUATRO

"Perhaps otherwise best known for her role as 'Leather Tuscadero' on the TV show Happy Days, Suzi Quatro would be one of those artists I'd say. Originally, she set the template for every tough rocker chick, but now her influence is obscured, behind the Joan Jett, Runaways, Patti Smith, Blondie, the Go-Go's, Pat Benetar, riot grrls, Melissa Etheridge et al, who are the more obvious choices for visible women in rock and punk."

QUEENSRYCHE

Progressive, political metal

"Back in '88, the group, famed for superior hard-rock and metal since its EP debut five years earlier, released Operation Mindcrime, its pinnacle statement artistically, a concept cycle revolving around the corruption of the U.S. government, its coterie of shadow cabals (CIA, FBI, NSA, etc.), and the subsequent need for anarchy."

SAD AMERICANA

Not quite Achy-Breaky

"Regardless of whether or not you agree with the superlatives presented here, the point of all this gunk is this: these songs are great because of what they embody. Painful, but never melodramatic, reflective, but never unaware of the present, alleviated, but never forgetful of the tribulations that came before. This is longing and desolation done right."

SHARPIES

Aussie fashion, music and violence

"The Sharpie movement was a short-lived youth subculture that seemed to explode out of nowhere, in Melbourne, Australia, in late '72. I can still remember the moment when I first noticed the tougher kids at my school turning up in strange clothes and haircuts... It was a time of early glam-rock, kung-fu movies, Clockwork Orange. Australia was just about to ditch its conservative government and pull out of Vietnam."

SOLO PERCUSSION

Not just boring drum solos

"Great drummers set free from the responsibilities of group-playing revel in the sonic elbowroom, and their invention while working alone seems boundless. At the minimum, it is often greater than that displayed by whole groups: a good argument for individual freedom. The five albums and CD's I consider here, the four men who wrote and played them--John French, Andrew Cyrille, Famoudou Don Moye and Jerome Cooper--certainly don't exhaust the mode's possibilities, or even the inventiveness of these players. "

RALPH TOWNER

Part III of 'Sergovia's Mutant Brother'

"With the Oregan's debut on the ECM label, Towner began downplaying guitar more than had been the case at Vanguard, ending this survey's look at those years. The dials have now been reset, and we travel back to witness the fact that Ralph never really had any salad days, being well understood for his talent right from the very start. The years from 1968-1974 were previously covered and, as the time is still '74, we check in with The Lord Of The Keyboards, Keith Jarrett."

TRUNK RECORDS

Reanimator of obscure soundtrack music

"Jonny Trunk is a purveyor of rare recordings and an expert on film and television music: whether collating coffee-table books full of far-out library music album artwork, rescuing master tapes from skips or presenting his soundtrack show on Resonance FM, Jonny is a man on a mission - to discover strange and beautiful lost music and channel it out into the world via his label, Trunk Records. "

VINYL ANACHRONIST

2007: Year of Grumpiness

"It seems like more and more people are returning to the format every month. Recently, one of the leading retailers of new vinyl told me that sales were up 40% over last year. Countless audio companies, such as McIntosh and Creek, are set to introduce their first turntables ever. So, why am I so grumpy?... It just seems like there's more in-fighting in the world of analog than ever before."

PORTER WAGONER

RIP- a tribute

"It was the quintessential showbiz moment, and Porter Wagoner was playing right along. There he was, on stage at the Grand Ole Opry being feted for celebrating fifty years... as a member of country music's most venerated institution, being serenaded by Dolly Parton to the truly heart-tugging strains of her hit "I Will Always Love You," the song she wrote for Porter on the occasion of their partnership's dissolution three decades before. And Porter, the original rhinestone cowboy... was eating it up. "

We're always looking for good writers and/or ideas so let us know if you have anything to share. Happy holidays and we'll see you in '08 (when we'll have our best of '07 music lists!).

See you online,

Jason