“Thurston Moore” (Used 3 times)

Most of us know Bobb Trimble -- well, as much as anyone does -- through the first two LPs of surreal psychedelic folk that the cult figure self-released in his early 20s. Iron Curtain Innocence (1980) and Harvest of Dreams (1982) were either a decade too late, or decades ahead of their time, as they went on to inspire the likes of Ariel Pink and Thurston Moore, fetching up to $1500 on ebay (sez wikipedia). Both were reissued by Secretly Canadian in 2007, and you can preview a track off of each at Bobb Trimble's FMA profile. But all the while, there was a third -- and very different -- Bobb Trimble record from 1983 that had never seen the light of day, because all 500 copies were disposed of in an office park dumpster.

The Crippled Dog Band LP is finally available for the first time ever via Yoga Records. The Crippled Dog Band is also the name of the group of teenage boys who back Bobb up on this recording. Story goes that the band itself wasn't Bobb's idea -- rather he was invited to join, but if you watch this recently excavated live video (below) it's clear that the music is Bobb's vision.

After disappearing for a couple decades, Bobb Trimble returned to the stage backed by a new band of young (but not that young) disciples: the Flying Spiders (Gary War, Nick Branigan, Karina DaCosta, and long-time friend Kris Thompson). In June 2009, Bobb Trimble's Flying Spiders played on my radio show at WFMU in 2009 (mp3s below, 2009 blog post here), and four songs from the Crippled Dog Band-era -- which can be heard here on the FMA -- were surprise favorites from the set. You can also hear Bobb Trimble's Flying Spiders perform at their first-ever but long-overdue NYC appearance (6/25/2009), and a year later at ISSUE Project Room's outdoor courtyard series.

>> Bobb Trimble - The Crippled Dog Band @ Yoga Records

Beginning tonight (11.3), ISSUE will host “Theoretical Music: No Wave, New Music, and the New York Art Scene, 1978-1983” a three-day event organized by art historian Branden W. Joseph and musician David Grubbs (Gastr del Sol, Bastro, Squirrel Bait, Red Krayola, etc) to take place at ISSUE Project Room.  Its purpose is to examine the intersections as well as the failed encounters of art, music, and cinema in downtown Manhattan from 1978-1983.  The festival commences this evening with a rare screening of James Nares' epic Rome '78 (starring Lydia Lunch, James Chance, John Lurie, amongst a host of other no wave luminaries). Tomorrow evening will feature an evening of panel discussions among some of the most notable figures to emerge from the art, music, and film scenes of the time (Dan Graham, Thurston Moore, Byron Coley, Kim Gordon, Nina Canal, John Miller & many more). The series concludes with a performance from crucial downtown band, Ut (playing their first U.S. show since '91) + an opening set from contemporary torch-bearers Talk Normal. Grab the three-day package set here.

In honor of Theoretical Music, Ut has offered a couple of tracks off their final studio album Griller (1989) produced by label-mate Steve Albini.  We've also included in the mix some Teenage Jesus & the Jerks (Lydia Lunch stars in James Nares' Rome '78, screened tonight), a track from Northampton Wools (Thurston Moore will speak on a panel discussion as part of the series), and an excellent jam from Talk Normal (live at WFMU on Marty McSorely's show!).

Formed in 1978, after Peter Gordon (speaking on Nov. 4th) introduced Sally Young and Jacqui Ham to ex-Gynecologists and ex-Dark Day member Nina Canal, Ut developed a distinctly dark sound based on free improvisation and spontaneous song writing. As with many No Wave bands Ut lacked a strong grounding in musical training, which they intentionally accentuated by changing instrumentation on each song. These methodological approaches channeled the raw energy of Ut’s song writing process into their live performances and finished songs.  Ut left the LES in 1981 to tour with The Fall and eventually settled in London releasing a number of albums, playing and recording until they disbanded in 1990.

For the third year in a row, WFMU trekked up to Kutsher's Country Club in Monticello for the NY edition of the legendary All Tomorrow's Parties Festival. We're following up the live broadcast with a series of blog posts highlighting mp3s from the best of the fest.

Thurston Moore was one of the major players at the fest -- he joined this year's curator Jim Jarmusch for a Criterion cinema panel in the Sportsman's Lounge, then rocked a career-spanning set with Sonic Youth. And to top it all off, he played a special acoustic set followed by an electric-guitar duo with Bill Nace as Northampton Wools. The latter, a 20-minute epic named "Sweetness", evolves from a trembling cinematic soundscape into a volcanic eruption; as the lava-flow cools you take a look back to where it all began and realize, damn: the improv highlight of the whole fest.

This dissonant assault was preceded by a rare Thurston Moore solo performance on 12-string guitar. The original recording of "Circulation" can be found on a new release titled In Silver Rain with a Paper Key -- a hardcover monograph containing two seven-inch vinyl records, as well as art, photographs, lyrics, poetry and other texts from Moore's personal notebooks and visual archives. This is a new release on Ecstatic Peace Library, an imprint of the label Thurston founded in 1981.

Ecastic Peace releases (and Ecstatic Yod, the collaboration with Byron Coley) shine a broad-yet-narrowly focused light into the musical underground. So I thought it'd be fun to make a list of the artists who've released music through these labels and also have FMA profiles: Menstruation Sisters, Lydia Lunch (of Teenage Jesus & The Jerks), Michael Gira, Jaap Blonk, Nels Cline, Sightings, Mouthus, Gang Wizard, Okkyung Lee, Fursaxa, Magik Markers, Lambsbread, MV&EE, Pocahaunted, Robedoor, Samara Lubelski, James Twig Harper (of Nautical Almanac), Angels in America, Loren Mazzacane Connors, Paul Flaherty/Chris Corsano...happy digging, and for a full discography try Discogs [Ecstatic Peace] [Ecstatic Yod].

If you're looking for more free mp3s, try Thurston's Protest Records project, founded as a protest against United States' invasions in the middle east. The site offers free politicized stencils in addition to the archived mp3 compilation series.

and hey! Keep an eye on the FMA's Recently Added feed and Featured Blog for more highlights from ATP-NY, and check out ATP's FMA Portal for highlights from this & previous festivals.