FOCUS
Moving Waves - (1972)

The album that boosted Focus into at least semi-fame outside of continental Europe, Moving Waves blasts off with their hit single, "Hocus Pocus." Built around a killer guitar hook by Jan Akkerman and a series of solo turns by the band, this instrumental replaced "Wipeout" as a staple of FM radio. The bizarrely hilarious vocal and accordion solos by Thijs van Leer — one of which absurdly concludes with rousing stadium cheers — have to be heard to be believed. After this over-the-top performance, the other tracks seem comparatively constrained: the gentle "Le Clochard" features some gorgeous classical guitar over Mellotron strings. The album concludes with "Eruption," which while mimicking the multi-suite nomenclature of Yes and King Crimson, is essentially a side-long jam session. Stop-time Emersonian organ solos alternate with languid sections of jazzy guitar redolent of Santana, while still other sections are flat-out electric blues-rock stomps. It's impressive playing, though it comes off as a bit meandering after the tightly structured solos that began the album.

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HUNTER S. THOMPSON
Selected Works

Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author, who created the genre known as gonzo journalism, a highly personal style of reporting that made him a counterculture icon. Thompson, who had a number of run-ins with the law as a young man, joined the U.S. Air Force in 1956. He served as a sports editor for a base newspaper and continued his journalism career after being discharged in 1957. In 1965 he infiltrated the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang, an experience he recounted in Hell's Angels (1967). The book led to writing assignments for Esquire, Harper's, Rolling Stone, and other magazines. In addition to his irreverent political and cultural criticism, Thompson also began to attract attention for his larger-than-life persona, which was highlighted by drug- and alcohol-fueled adventures and a distaste for authority. In 1970 Thompson introduced his subjective style of reporting with the article “The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved,” in which he was a central part of the story. A 1971 assignment for Sports Illustrated to cover a motorcycle race in Nevada resulted in perhaps his best-known work, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream (1972; film, 1998), which became a contemporary classic and established the genre of gonzo journalism. First serialized in Rolling Stone, it documents the drug-addled road trip taken by Thompson (as his alter ego Raoul Duke) and his lawyer (Dr. Gonzo) while also discussing the end of the 1960s counterculture. The book featured frenetic artwork by Ralph Steadman, who illustrated many of Thompson's works. In Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72 (1973), Thompson chronicled the 1972 presidential campaigns of George McGovern and Richard Nixon. Later works include The Great Shark Hunt (1979), Better Than Sex (1994), and Kingdom of Fear (2003). Thompson died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

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CERBERUS SHOAL
Cerberus Shoal - (1995,2004)

To mark their tenth anniversary, Cerberus Shoal had reissued their first album from 1995. The disc is certainly a bold statement for a debut. Many of what would become CS’s trademarks—sudden changes in mood, extended formal procedures and a flare for the theatrical—appear in compact form on this debut effort. “Daddy As Seen from Bar Harbor”, an eleven-minute mini-epic, combines muttered speech-song with frequent shifts and juxtapositions in instrumental dynamics; both of these quasi-theatrical elements continue to be integral to the group’s aesthetic to this day. In fact, “Daddy” might be perceived as a smaller suite within a larger connected whole, as the album begins and ends with different versions of “Rain”, one with vocals and one lacking them. The album’s compositions and instrumental deployment reflect and anticipate developments in what would eventually be dubbed “Spacerock” or “Post-rock”: Amp’s drone-heavy ruminations are certainly invoked, and the slow arcs in volume and intensity so often associated with Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor make embryonic appearances here. However, Cerberus Shoal’s approach is neither specifically arch-like nor monotonously heavy. Their ability to switch textures and dynamics unceremoniously, musically mirroring the surrealism of their submerged narratives, is this disc’s most memorable feature, and one which would be further exploited on their sophomore effort, And Farewell to High Tide. In retrospect, it has proven to be one of the few constants in the history of a group whose approach and personnel have long been in flux.

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SONNY ROLLINS
East Broadway Run Down - (1966)

Around the ten-minute mark of the title track, things get very interesting indeed — moody and spooky as Jimmy Garrison hangs on a single note, making his bass throb along while Elvin Jones widens the space and fires drum and cymbal hits in all directions. Coming off bass and drum solos that never seem to fit anywhere in the piece, it's a supreme moment of tension-building, one that gets repeated after Rollins and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard restate the theme in unison. This is the sound of Rollins' group working in unity. For much of "East Broadway Run Down," though, the rhythm section is off doing their thing, usually together, while Rollins meanders about in limbo, seemingly trying to figure out what it is that he should be doing. That Rollins was having an off day for this recording is a suspicion that's strengthened by Hubbard's part — where Rollins is wandering, Hubbard is charging ahead, focused and tight, fitting with the rhythm section, keeping the tension up. The remainder of the album is more on the mark, with "Blessing in Disguise" being quite enjoyable — it starts out in a cheerfully traditional vein and gradually, subtly, starts to slide off into an improvisational area only to come back again to the traditional, and so back and forth. Rollins floats his sax line around the melody with only occasional excursions toward the outer regions. "We Kiss in a Shadow," though, is charmingly straightforward, a ballad rendering supported by Jones and Garrison locking together on a nice rhythm construction that lets Rollins float around the melody. (allmusic.com)

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COWS
Taint Pluribus Taint Unum - (1987)

Recommended to those who want to experience The Cows at their most impenetrable and noisy. This is not to say that this record is worthless, but it is relentless. And, if you tire of guitar feedback, screeched vocals and a rhythm section that only infrequently knows what it's doing, this may be more than you can handle. However, fans of Japanese noise acts like The Boredoms and some of John Zorn's more extreme jazzcore outfits might think this is pretty cool. This album has been long out of print and surprisingly has never been released on cd. It can be assumed that Amrep could not get the rights from the very defunct Treehouse records label.

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LAND OF THIN DIMES
Land Of Thin Dimes - (1999)

Behold, Land Of Thin Dimes, a dark and spooky eponymous record. Ringleaders Nolan and Drew Cook interweave otherworldly guitar-textures and also own their own go-cart factory. With co-conspirators Rubberman, The Mysterious Mangum, and Crosskill, these men of Dimes have delivered a record that is sweet, nervous, and unpredictable. Like a soundtrack to some crazed non-existent film, Land Of Thin Dimes is largely instrumental, leaning more toward the development of characters ensnared in their own rich, hypnotic themescapes than on any historically accurate song formula. Influences range from The Who, King Crimson and Hendrix, to The Residents and Mad Professor but their sound is uniquely their own.

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GREG DULLI
Amber Headlights - (2005)

Amber Headlights can best be divided into blustery rockers and pastel moments of graceful, low-key melancholy. Dulli sounds troubled and tortured (as usual), but he's downright angry on the soulful rocker "Early Today (And Later That Night)" as a series of intertwined guitar solos rage in the background. He settles for an annoying drum machine-laden led beat on "Cigarettes", but his tuneful singing and the song's soaring chorus make up for the rhythmic misstep. This is the disc's best performance; you can almost hear Paul Westerberg's distant influence. "Pussywillow" drones along, all dark tones and weeping guitar. The symphonic overlay adds a touch of class without making the track sound too polished. If the guitar hasn't already pierced your heart, the desperately sung chorus certainly will. The piano-led "Get the Wheel" evolved into "Follow You Down" on a subsequent release, but this version is still a heartbreaker. Dulli's smoky voice drifts between the ivory keys, then is quickly overcome by silence at the song's end. It sounds unfinished, but it's still dazzling. If you're a longtime Dulli follower, you'll recognize "Domani", "So Tight" and the somber "Wicked", which have already found their way onto other releases. You won't mind owning them twice. For a fractured album that spent several years in limbo, Amber Headlights does two things very well: it's an impressive introduction to Dulli's far-reaching musical talent, and a spiritual cleansing for the wry vocalist himself. It's likely that the rough, ragged lyrics and afflicted vocals will help you exorcise some of your own demons along the way.

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