B/W
"Ist Or Mas"
H.P. Music HPS-30733
12" 45 rpm Stereo EP
September 1978
(continued from page
52)
elcome to another set of liner
notes on the back of
another
phonography record for you to
wonder about. Immediately, you might
need to find out what
kind of music
is on this disc, if you've ever hurd
of the artist,
and if you could in-
deed afford to buy it. You might
be
confusingly seduced by the odd cover
photograph, thus
you would attempt a
compulsive reach for it from the
table
and begin reading the back.
very once in a while
you'll
find some recorded music that
has nothing to do with
trendy
rock n roll forms. The sound may be
unlike the way nearly
every band in
the studio does. The compositions are
fulll of
surprises and, again, unlike
today's oh-so-standard fare.
This
rare type of record
is seldom delivered
though, so your
ex-
pectations fall and
you merely wait til
out of nowhere
this
strange taste youve
acquired is bitten
suddenly on
the but
(as you desired).
And nevertheless you obtain a copy
for yourself. And it
builds within
you a private sort of pride...that
this relic you've
found was made
just for you and no one else. Mass
sales
are irrevelant, in this case.
ringing us to the matter at
hand, this record. It is a
12"
(measure it) 45 rpm (count 'em)
containing only 3 pieces. The sounds
audible here come to
you from living
rooms in Nashville,
Tennessee...tiny
makeshift tape recording systems set
up
against a wall. The artist gathers
a fresh reel of tape, borrows
some
drums and stuff, and begins a long
series of adding,
all by himself,
many elements on many soundsources
to
create a twisted realm of power
pop. It's all done on
inexpensive
pairs of stereo decks. And it's all
done with only
one pair of hands.
| ut of the huge batch of
100plus selections recorded in the South (?) are chosen these 3. |
| ay side: "IST OR MAS" instrumentation 8:00 This bossanova theme is suggested |
with, but not limited to, the act of
wak- ing up and facing the next bunch of hours you'll be using to decide what to do and how to do it best. The lyrics are very low in volume, as you are still half a- sleep and couldn't make sense of foreign sentences at this hour anyway. You old poot. After all, it is daytime now. Time for you to decide what to do and how to do it best. Time for you to resurface after last night's crazy activities. This song will helparrange your questions of how to accept this morning properly. It can also be used to plan breakfast and |
gather materials for washing up. Slowly. |
| ight side: "DANCE MAN" 3:05 "MANUFACTURERS" 4:45 |
The lively half of your life is
exposed within this pair of uptempo numbers, a duet using catchy melodies on top of strong semi-professional rock rhythms. Not unlike your wild nightly antics when you go out (again), the fascinating dis- array of beats on these top ten hits is offset by the kinetic lines that are voiced: |
"LOOK AT YOU, YOU PUT YOUR DRINK DOWN
ON THE TABLE AND YOU STAND UP
I'M WATCHING YOU, YOU LIKE THE RHYTHM
AND THE BEAT THAT KEEPS THE BAND UP
YOU GO TO HER, SHE WANTS TO...
SHE'S BEAUTIFUL, SHE HAUNTS YOU
DANCE MAN--
DON'T YOU WISH THE MUSIC NEVER STOPPED?
"ME WANNA DANCE WITH YOU, BABY
AT THE MANUFACTURERS
ME WANNA THROW YOU ON THE FLOOR
WHERE THEY MAKE THE GOODS.
ME WANNA HUNCH ON YOUR BODY
AT THE MANUFACTURERS
ME WANNA PUT YOU ON ASSEMBLY LINE
CONSTRUCT A MOLD AND MAKE IT GOOD
ME WANNA TAKE YOU, TOXIC ROCKIN' ROLE
ME WANNA MAKE YOU! MANUFACTURE YOU!"
| t works for you, and you
find yourself working for it. You certainly notice a change for |
the better, as the weeks pass.
This pseudo-instructional method can turn |
your turntable, without you having to turn it on. You don't even have to listen to it. Its simple |
power and pertinent wackiness
trans- form into your mental dreams as you sleep. This unique doctoring process is all pop music needs now, with all the mediocre diseases flying about. From the home of the Grand Ole Opry |
arrives a record so chockfull of alter- natives, that your bored days are over and you can be |
youthfully innocent of harsh rules
& formats onceaagain and forevermoore. -----Larry Rest, TV personality Originally concepted in 1976-77 by Robert Moore and tailored for lathe by Jon Child in New York. Realized by HP. As told by SM. Lyrics copyright ©1978 HP Music Also available: 4 From Phonography To find out more about tape-to-disc at home, write the men at:
h p music |
DANCE MAN & MANUFACTURERS were taped alone in Billy Anderson's garage, Pennington Bend, Nashville during June and July 1977, respectively. Machines: Dokorder 4-track & Sony stereo ¼ track. All instruments, beginning with drums, played by RSM. Add Hofner bass, Instapiano, Rickenbacker electric guitars, Elka string synthesizer, Micro-Moog synthesizer and percussion. Both songs originally appeared on 'Swing And A Miss' tape.
IST OR MAS was taped alone at home, Forrest Avenue, East Nashville on Fri 23 April 1976. Machines: Aiwa & Teac stereo ¼ track. Half-speed Magnus organ, electric guitar and multi-layered echo. (Alternate working title: 'Lochness Monster.') Originally appeared on 'Instrumentality' tape.
The STANCE e.p. now appears as bonus tracks on Delicate Tension CD.
STANCE at MySpace.Com
RARE JAPANESE LTD EDITION SLEEVES:
|
|
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The Phonography man returns with
more of his own unique pop amalgam. The
Day Side of this 12" EP ("Ist Or Mas") is an
Eno-ish slab of backround music perfect for
those who are only half-awake (and if you're
not already it'll make you half-asleep). The
Night Side is about Dancing and Sex
("Dance Man" and "Manufacturers"), R.
Stevie's own idiosyncratically oddball
tongue-in-cheek lyrics and a melange of
musical elements recalling bits of such as
Todd Rundgren, the Isley Brothers and
(vocally) Kevin Ayers. Pretty strange, huh?
But it works! Find out how for $3.00 from
HP Music. (And the 4 From Phonography EP's
still available too...)
A three-song 12" EP, 1978's Stance was R. Stevie Moore's first release after moving from his native Nashville to the more artistically favorable climes of northern New Jersey. Side one, or the "night side," features two of Moore's best pop songs of the period, "Dance Man" and "Manufacturers," both of which had originally appeared on Moore's self-released 1977 cassette A Swing and a Miss. This version of "Manufacturers" is a new recording, slightly faster than the original cassette release, missing the extended intrumental vamp at the end, and featuring Moore singing in a different, higher timbre than the Beefheart-like growl he'd employed on the original. A minor new wave classic, "Manufacturers" quickly became one of Moore's most popular songs, getting a lot of local airplay on the more adventurous radio stations in the New York region and ending up on a big-selling compilation Trouser Press magazine released on the cassette-only ROIR label in the early '80s. "Dance Man" is another of Moore's catchiest tunes, a sarcastic but sympathetic portrait of a disco dandy that, like "Manufacturers," is set to a mix of blazing rock guitar and percolating disco synths that was several years ahead of its time. The more experimental flip, the "day side," consists of one eight-minute instrumental, "Ist or Mas." Described in the liner notes as a piece designed to accompany facing the morning with a hangover, "Ist or Mas" is an ambient set of overdubbed and heavily processed guitars that drift and eddy in an appropriately soothing fashion. Not at all unlike the calmer moments of Brian Eno and Robert Fripp's collaborations, "Ist or Mas" shows Moore's facility with more adventurous styles of music. S.M.
Dear Stevie, Stance is terrific! Keep up the good work. Can I get a copy? Let me know details. Was there a 'Phonography' LP? It's wonderful to see and hear people doing something different and doing itso well. Keep up the good work.
Thanks, Dave Rauh, Station Manager
Orig. VINYL 12" EP AVAILABLE $100
STILL SEALED, very limited offer
(Click button below)
This stereophonic microgroove recording cannot become obsolete. It has been carefully engineered to provide the finest monophonic performance from any phonograph -- old or new, monophonic or stereophonic. Like all high-fidelity albums from H.P. Music, it is a top-quality product of the recording art, and will continue to be a source of outstanding reproduction, now and on the future.
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