Hartmut Geerken – ‘burned beyond recognition/orgie mit mir selber’ C60
Archival recordings by Hartmut Geerken. German author, poet, composer, musician, film-maker, performer, actor, mycologist, archivist, stager of exhibitions, lumberjack and bumble-bee-keeper who published countless books of poetry and prose, edited the collected works of the exiled German philosopher Salomo Friedlaender/Mynona and worked with Amercan poet Tom Lax. As a musician he collaborated with John Tchicai, Sun Ra (he was the first to bring Sun Ra over to Egypt in 1971), Embryo, Michael Ranta, Art Ensemble Of Chicago etc etc. In the seventies Hartmut lived in Afghanistan organizing the annual Indo-Afghan-European music weeks and broadcasting the first jazz program on Radio Afghanistan together with Wahab Madadi. The two soundpoetry pieces on this tape were recorded in 1979 while living in Kabul. 100 copies.
Roberto Valenza – ‘Impermanence is Beautiful’ C60
Roberto Valenza (1943 – 2010) was a poet of the crazy wisdom school, influenced by the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of spontaneous realization poetry of Doha songs. He spent most of the seventies living on Swayambhu Hill in Katmandu, where he attended ceremonies and initiations and was part of the international poetry scene which also included Angus MacLise and Ira Cohen, who published two classic books by Valenza under his Bardo Matrix imprint. Upon returning to the States, Roberto went to Seattle where he co-founded Red Sky Poetry Theatre and collaborated with poet margareta waterman on several chapbooks and a full-length volume of poetry, drawings and photographs from his time in Katmandu. ‘Impermanence is Beautiful’ collects home recordings from 2002, plus contains a further five tracks recorded live in San Francisco in 1980 and excerpted (compliments of Eddie Woods) from a forthcoming live-performance album entitled “Ins & Outs at the Grand Piano.” In the liner notes Ralph La Charity writes about the recordings: “Our triple-threat magic man to the max, a Cosmic Giggle sort of wise guy artist/poet ever in motion who most feared standing pat, a whirlybird with glittery eyes all itchy with Else; he painted visions hilarious sacred and profane, his songs likewise rapt bawdy and Grand, & once he sat down on his flute, bent it, & that was that.” 100 copies.
Metal Rouge – ‘Thunder Woods’ C42
Thunderous riffs of devastating free-rock squall soaked up in extended intuitive solos of endless distortion. These jams drown in hazy echo’s of art rock, noise psychedelia and the darkest corners of acidic free jazz. 80 copies.
Metabolismus – ‘Brimborium’ C40
Acid-folk- jazz jams by the legendary Metabolismus, this tape has a deep sixties communal hippie vibe to it. Mostly acoustic instruments, with some electronics thrown in for a nice fried kraut feel. Features an extended version of The Fug’s ‘Nothing’. 100 copies.