Another sweet WFMU Record Fair find. A sealed copy of this improvised live double LP (recorded in 1998 in a forest in Canada) set me back $25. Technically the full title is No Neck Blues Band Meets The Clear People with Mystery Gypped Live At Ken’s Electric Lake, but that seems unnecessarily long to me. In short, it’s NNCK with members of Sunburned Hand Of The Man.
D.M. Edwards over at Pop Matters reviewed the CD reissue in 2008 writing, “Over the course of the two discs the few inevitable moments of dullness are obscured by glorious passages of spiraling rhythm, spaced hypnotics and trance grooves. Woods evoke a primal sense of refuge and sanctuary which the band coveys very well. If some sections are as arid as James Chance’s dead funk, overall this is a fluid orgiastic masterpiece of free-jazz and folk-drone that is flecked with raga and juju.”
Bands like NNCK or Sunburned Hand Of The Man can be a chore to listen to sometimes. I get it. I don’t like every album these bands release. But the ones where they totally hit their stride, such as here on Live At Ken’s or the previously-posted Ever Borneo, or Sunburned Hand Of The Man’s Magnetic Drugs or Rare Wood, hit it out of the park. Generally speaking, the more guitar is discernible in the mix, the better the odds that an album is going to impress me. On Live At Ken’s, the opening minutes are filled with distant clanging rhythms and heavily-effected guitars. Then shit gets tribal. The rest of the album is akin to following a crazy, druggy spirit journey. Close your eyes and enjoy the ride.
No-Neck Blues Band
Live At Ken’s Electric Lake
Sound@one, 1998
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