It's All Gone Weird

Sad news. Peter Brötzmann has died. Here is an obit from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jun/23/peter-brotzmann-legend-of-free-jazz-dies-at-82 Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Br%C3%B6tzmann Official website: http://www.peterbroetzmann.com/index2.php Bandcamp: https://peterbroetzmann.bandcamp.com/ - W.A.Davison

I'm currently digitizing some old microcassettes that I made in the mid to late 00s for use in Gastric Female Reflex and my solo project M.Stactor . On one tape (which seems to have been recorded at a local "noise" show) you can hear part of a DJ set by GFR member Jacob Horwood, and at a certain point in the recording you hear me yelling "Jake, what is this?" and he replies " The Vitamin B12 ". Right! The Vitamin B12 ! The mysterious Vitamin B12. I kind of forgot about this outfit but I remember at the time being very impressed with everything I heard from them. Not sure why I didn't investigate them more thoroughly, although I suspect it wasn't as easy to hear their material in the 00s. At any rate, I'm very glad I got this reminder today because, since about 2017, main B12 member Alasdair Willis has been uploading a ton of Vitamin B12 material on Bandcamp ! So, I am diving into the deep end and won't be coming up for air for some ti

Just discovered this band, Toupidek Limonade , while listening to an archived version of one of Don Campau's "No Pigeonholes" radio show (from 1988). I am completely unfamiliar with them but what I can tell you is they are French, they formed in the early 80s and, depending on who you talk to you, they could be considered either Rock In Opposition or perhaps the weirder fringes of progressive rock. From the tracks I've heard so far, I would say the RIO label seems a good fit. Anyway, I'm loving what I've heard from this group...very experimental, strange, funny, with a kind of "outsider" vibe. IMO, more concerned with creativity, humour and fun than with tight arrangements or performances, slick production and recording, etc. Not improvised but definitely having a spontaneous, off-the-cuff kind of feel. Great stuff! I haven't found any full albums online yet but there are individual tracks on Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGsmUVcQEhik

The Bim Prongs have a track on a new compilation called "Procrastinoise" . https://aversiontoreality.bandcamp.com/album/procrastinoise-an-electronic-cottage-compilation - W.A.Davison