MOUTHO (Ken Fleischman) – From The Mouth Of The Crimson King (2021) Review: Ken Crimson

The album’s cover

Ken Fleischman’s second full-length scours the music of “King Crimson” to put together a novel little record. Fans of the eccentricities of Fleischman’s music will not feel left in the cold, despite the lack of original material. For reference, the first album, New Old Things, features a quality New Order cover. For From The Mouth Of The Crimson King, the keys are the best part, creating a nice rhythm. The loose trance they hold is quite delightful. The degree of proficiency present is enough for them to leave a positive and memorable mark that is both weird and structured. The vocal pops, similar to scat singing, are a mixed bag. They sometimes are overpowering, with them working a lot better as a backing to the other lines.

“21st Century Schizoid Man” has a really fun part in the middle that inserts a smidge of funk. There’s give-and-take with the vocals and instruments. It’s a little too long, but easy to relax to. That can be levied against all the longer tracks except the last one. Brevity really helps these tracks. They often become too repetitive in length. It’s easy to doze off and not pay much attention to them. “Lady of the Dancing Water” feels under-rehearsed due to its start-and-stop nature. That element, and the composition of the piece, makes it nonetheless charming. “Cirkus”’s synth has great flow. It’s satisfying when it gets more grand and then spacious. The angst of a track like “Moto Perpetuo” makes it stand out. That aggression is unnerving and all for the better. It can be seen as unwelcome for those who were here for the more relaxing parts. The parts with only keyboard you could imagine being a transition to something more experimental.

The next few tracks are among the weaker ones. “Frame By Frame” is reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s “On the Run”. It and the follow-up, “Neal and Jack and Me”, have a droning quality which loses the plot and is lacking in energy. There’s less diversity in sounds. “Three of a Perfect Pair”’s instrumentation and vocals seem to be trying to mesh well, but are unable to; as if they were recorded without consideration for the other. It improves when it gets a little intense near the end. The keys solo with a droning line in the background is extremely captivating and one of the highlights of the album.

“FraKctured” would benefit from a change in volume. The track sometimes seems to want to fly out and be grander, but it being about the same volume makes it dull. Some other songs here are like that. The track is overall solid, going for the recurring element of not being very comfortable. The sounds play like torment that is best continued. “Dinosaur” is a great groover, having a good give-and-take between the different sounds. The percussion is especially strong. “Lizard” benefits from its relaxed and almost jazzy-instrumentation. It’s playful, though not at the cost of its own worth as a piece. The ‘clicking’ part is one favorite segment. Personally, electronic percussion doesn’t sound quite right, but it’s not too bad here. It’s a solid and eclectic track that doesn’t go for more than it is. And while yes, it does overstay its welcome at a gargantuan twenty-eight minutes, it’s not by as long as one might think. It feels like an amalgamation of the best of the other tracks.

OVERVIEW

From The Mouth Of The Crimson King is at its best when it’s groovy, playful, and most importantly confident. Tracks like “FraKctured” demonstrate how something good can be made weaker by being too subdued. There is quite a bit of drag on this album that could’ve been cut, not wanting to belabor any point. Arguably it hurts from being less experimental than the first release, though to each their own. It’s a solid enough record, but perhaps not one for complete relistens. Some cuts would’ve helped, but what is here is respectable. Despite criticisms of length, “Lizard” is my personal favorite of the bunch.

Also, after writing this I learned that everything here was recorded with Ken’s mouth. Oh my Heavens, that’s impressive (computer effects were used, though). The effect sounds exactly like the mentioned instruments.

Ken Fleischman – New Old Things (2021) Review

The album’s cover

New Old Things is a worthwhile play for fans of electronic or noise music. Some of these tracks seem intended to emphasize ambiance, which makes the music more about being a collective experience, though they work on their own. Other tracks are more conventional in nature. The shift is a little jarring and one type is done better than the other, but that also results in a fun grab-bag of not knowing what you’re going to get next. A lot of the tracks are dominated by keyboard. Songs can live or die on how well they work due to how prominent they can be.

An example of the great keys is on “Popsong”. The track can seem unassuming in its relaxing rhythm, as if it wants to be something you can study to. It’s a solid warm opener, though the drums would sound better if not synthesized. “Winter Theme” both continues that tone, being very ambient. However, it adds in a synth that is slightly unsettling. “View From A Frosted Window” is comparatively straightforward. It appears to have a synthesized keyboard, but a real player that could add umph when needed would really bring it to life. That or an acoustic guitarist. What most of the songs here have that this one lacks is being able to hear the silence. A lack of noise in response to a sound adds to the methodical nature at play. A quiet room with just a pianist or guitarist would provide an absent simplicity and realism to the track that could make it fit better with the generally synthetic other tracks, while also providing obvious contrast.

The eccentricities are amplified with a cover. “Blue Monday (New Order cover)” is longer than the earlier songs. It feels as though it’s transitioning you from what you’ve heard before to the stranger stuff due to the long and droning notes. The digital drums work better as the beat sounds very robotic, as if you asked a computer to make music. “Mouthy/Talkative” has a very catchy vocal line, despite the earlier material being instrumental. That line makes the song and thus the album feel more diverse and flavorful. It is comparatively like the other songs when you put it up against “Thatcher Song (A Bruno Powroznik Classic Remix)”. Those that don’t like hardcore noise music should turn away. This track is probably intended to be annoying, but it embraces it so well, while still managing a surprisingly good melody, that it’s a very likable addition. The vocal could’ve used either more processing or less. Maybe a vocal with a more commanding sound would help? Imagine a Frank Farian-type one talking about how glad they are that Margaret Thatcher died.

The song goes from its initial segment to its devolved portion quickly. What if the drumline on “Blue Monday” returned and segued into it? The eclectic hardware-esque sounds are particularly rewarding in the context of the record, due to a buildup throughout the whole thing. The extensive sounds of “Thatcher Song” make sense with the numerous tracks that in a sense feel computerized. It’s as if this is the swan song of an old computer that’s falling apart. Maybe it’s telling its life story? Thus, it going through this sonic landscape and ending up abandoning melody is a fitting way to approach the end. That “lack of life” and the motif of moments of silence are punctuated by ten minutes of silence. While more than about forty seconds is too much, at least it’s in keeping with what the album is going for. As expected, there is sound in the last seconds of the track. “An End” concludes the “ambient computer vibes” by being quiet and more minimalist in sound than the other tracks. It captures surprising somberness in its lowkey and simple notes. It might be the best cut on this album and what you should play if you only wanted to listen to one song.

OVERVIEW

Excluding any kind of interpreted narrative, New Old Things is still a sharp electronic noise album for those that are into that sort of thing. It manages to create a solid tone and experience, while being able to change things up, especially with the epic “Thatcher Song”, which is either thirteen or twenty-three minutes depending on how you look at it. It’s understandable that a fan of the shorter tracks might not like that one, but it’s not as much of a curveball as you might think. For better or for worse, this might not convert anyone that doesn’t like this sort of music.

Listen to the album here: https://kfleischmantunes.bandcamp.com/album/new-old-things

The Waitresses – Everything Old Is New (1982) Album Edit

Thanks to a video by YouTuber Todd In The Shadows, I discovered and became a fan of the obscure new wave band, The Waitresses. Their leader, Chris Butler, wrote the band’s songs and they really spoke to me. Unfortunately, like many obscure bands, it’s hard to find much material by them. The Waitresses only had two studio albums and some strays. Amusingly, the only ten songs I could find together are between 40 and 43 minutes, just like the two studio albums, so this nicely fits among them. What’s not so nice is that they couldn’t all be before the first, in between the two, or the most preferable, after the second. They’re all scattered between the very beginning and before the second album. Still, that’s not the most offensive thing in the world. It happens. For the sake of this little project, my headcanon is that in between the production of the albums, when the group was working on their 1982 EP, I Could Rule the World If I Could Only Get the Parts, they were forced to make it an LP’s length. The only option they had was to take everything from the can and put it in this pot.

The songs pooled into three groups; Songs from 1978, from 1981, and from 1982. I’ve heard none of the songs other than “Christmas Wrapping” and I knew the ‘78 and possibly ‘81 ones didn’t feature the band’s lead singer, Patty Donahue. Thus, a concept was devised to make it all make sense. The album starts with Christmas Wrapping, as it likely wouldn’t fit anywhere else, then the rest of the 81 songs. We then basically segue out of the songs in the style of the first album. We’d then get the ‘78 stuff which is basically solo Chris Butler, as they’d likely fail miserably at opening or closing the album, then tie it all off with the new material which would lead to their second, now third, LP. The ‘82 material was the only new material, so it made sense to end with it. Upon listening to the material, there was a problem. The flow was not great. It felt like three EPs, one from ‘78, one from ‘81, and one from ‘82, that weren’t really connected.

“Christmas Wrapping” is a conventional pop song, making sense as an opener. Right as the song ends, we immediately go into insanity. “Astronettes (Love? You Must Be Kidding.)” and “Hangover 1/1/83” are very unconventional songs with a less significant structure. The first single by “The Waitresses” (though Chris was the only member) is “Slide” with “Clones” as a B-side. They sound a lot like a sixteen year old recording a song in his room. “The Comb” is a lot more normal but also has the sixteen year old demo vibe. It does, however, feature Patty Donahue. “Bread And Butter” features a lot of weird mixing, like “Astronettes”, but done a lot better. “Bread And Butter” is my favorite song of the lot. The last three songs are pretty normal.

The bananaville of this thing is hard to fathom. I considered using my listening order as the tracklist as there is a charm to how things suddenly get crazy in unique ways, but we can give logic to the weirdness. “Christmas Wrapping” is the ideal opener. It fits well and it opened the Rule the World EP. “Square Pegs” and “The Smartest Person I Know” were tracks 3 and 4 on the EP, 8 and 9 in my listening order, and now they’re 2 and 3 here as they’re definitely the most boring of the album. Most of the others have some spice to them. They can be used as a red herring that this album will be conventional, as they follow Christmas well. All of the songs without Patty Donahue need to be consecutive so it feels deliberate and otherwise is jarring. Seeing as she is important to the band and the structure of their albums, she should open and close the album. Patty sections should also have substance in numbers, so as not to feel like filler or like there’s nowhere to put them. The solution is to have three Pattys on each end and the four no-Pattys in the middle.

The bizarre “Astronettes” may come as a shock, but it effectively gets this weird train rolling. It’s like a fever dream. It’s also nice that it features Patty on backing vocals. Next is “Clones”, which is also weirdly repetitive and strange. It ties off side-a well. It also tied off the first single as it was the b-side. The a-side is “Slide” which seems like a sixteen year old playing a rock song in his basement. I got a soft spot for it and it works as an opener to a side. The last of the weird ones is “Hangover 1/1/83”. It’s a sharp and trippy instrumental. It was going to start the weird section, but it makes sense here because now you can think of the album like this, “Astro, Clones, and Slide are getting too drunk at night and Hangover is well… the hangover.” Just like with a pandemic, things may start getting on the ground, but the true return to normalcy isn’t so quick. “The Comb” and “Bread And Butter” are more normal, but they still feature trippy, weird parts that build a climax. “I Could Rule the World If I Could Only Get the Parts” is one of the normal ones. Its simplicity is effective in easing you out the album. It’s got some audience cheering to make it feel like the end of a concert. Just like how the album shifts into strangeness, now it shifts out.

As described is the ideal tracklist, but just for fun, if you want the album to get weirder and weirder throughout, listen in the order of Christmas, Square, Smartest, Rule, Comb, Bread, Slide, Clones, Astro, and finally Hangover. That might be a fun one to try out sometime. Hopefully the Waitress shaped hole in our hearts can be at least partially filled by this “second album”. It’s good to me as it’s so bonkers and not in a bad way. You can be the judge of that though!

The cover is an edited version of the cover for the I Could Rule the World If I Could Only Get the Parts EP. The title came from being interesting and feeling appropriate as some of this material was a little outdated in 1982.

THE WAITRESSES – EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Christmas Wrapping” (Chris Butler, arr. The Waitresses)
2. “Square Pegs” (Chris Butler, arr. The Waitresses)
3. “The Smartest Person I Know” (Chris Butler, arr. The Waitresses)
4. “Astronettes (Love? You Must Be Kidding.)” (Chris Butler, Irwin)
   
5. “Clones” (Chris Butler)

SIDE B

1. “Slide” (Chris Butler)
2. “Hangover 1/1/83” (Chris Butler)
   
3. “The Comb” (Chris Butler)
   
4. “Bread And Butter” (Chris Butler, arr. The Waitresses)
5. “I Could Rule the World If I Could Only Get the Parts” (Chris Butler, arr. The Waitresses)

1. Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful? (1982) – Archive.org, YouTube, Spotify

2. Everything Old Is New (1982) – Archive.org

3. Bruiseology (1983) – Archive.org, YouTube

PERSONNEL

• Chris Butler – guitar (tracks 1-4, 6, 8-10 (maybe 7)), bass guitar (track 8), every instrument (track 5), producer (tracks 1-10)
• Patty Donahue – vocals (tracks 1-4, 8-10)
• Tracy Wormworth – bass guitar (tracks 1-3, 9-10), vocals (track 1)
• Billy Ficca – drums (tracks 1-3, 9-10)
• Dan Klayman – keyboard (tracks 1-3, 9-10)
• Mars Williams – saxophone (tracks 1-3, 9-10), reed (track 7)
• Dave Buck – trumpet (track 1)
• Mark Jendrisak – bass guitar (track 4)
• Bob Ethington – drums (track 4)
• Paul Teagle – keyboards (track 4), synthesizer (track 4)
• Ron Nelson – saxophone (track 4)
• Becky Price – vocals (track 4)
• Laura Ruth – vocals (track 4)
• Galen Studebaker – drums (tracks 6, 8)
• Michael Aylward – slide guitar (track 6)
• Jack Kidney – harp (track 6)
• Rick Dailey – guitar (track 7), engineer (tracks 6-7)
• Liam Sternberg – rhythm guitar (track 8)
• Rick Dailey – piano (track 8)
• Mike Frondelli – producer (tracks 1-3, 9-10)
• Mark Price – engineer (tracks 4-6)
• Mark Mandlebaum – engineer (track 7)