We're Late For Class

#24 Limited Edition Release

Some accountant guys at school are offering their services to us just to get some real world experience. And, the first thing they advised us to do is get in on the special, limited edition release scam. "A sure money maker," they're telling us, especially when you sit on all the existing copies for backdoor sales at auction sites (just like big record companies do). So, this is Limited Edition Release, our promo single - featuring two self-explanatory, so-called rockers, "Transmission From Jimmy Miller's Car Phone" (not to be confused with #15's "Jimmy Miller's Knob Is Missing, Too") and "The Lumbering Rex" - with riffs we hammered repeatedly for an hour just to get 5 consistent minutes. This take was about a half hour in. As you can see... this hard copy promo's spine is stuffed with an atmospheric enhancement stick. By merely igniting it, critics might like what they hear. Of course, if these were actually sent out to media, there'd be trouble. "Free publicity," seems to be the accountants' mantra on the subject of our arrest and prosecution. We're not sure how long it takes for this collectible crap to get valuable, so... until then, you can listen to the contents of Limited Edition Release below and download the digital version for free. Then... watch for the rare, original, collectible discs popping up on Ebay, with a secret code on back to deter rampant counterfeiting. Accountants think of everything (great). Recorded live.

Listen

Transmission From Jimmy Miller's Car Phone (6:46)
The Lumbering Rex (4:26)

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#23 Musik For Potheads

Sometimes, you've just got to call it what it is. This is Musik For Potheads. There's no story here. Just our stab at a three minute hit single, "Herd Mentality." We fully expect this to be all over iTunes and Amazon, racking up the ratings and attracting a media "buzz." Of course, once you hear this obnoxious rock stomp w/super fucked guitars, you'll wonder what's in our pipes... and may even be tempted to ask for some. Don't! Instead, check out the hyper-audacity of "Checkers" and the admittedly masturbatory "Transmission #37." It's just like the subheader says, "Live improvisation for your smoking jacketed pleasure." Recorded live.

Listen

Herd Mentality (3:05)
Checkers (5:42)
Transmission #37 (9:29)

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#22 Live In The Theatre Of DisBelief

A couple of us wrote a script for a television show (pretty much on a whim) just to see how hard it would be to knock one out. The title of it was "Live In The Theatre of DisBelief." The premise involved a scientific reconnaissance space vehicle, not unlike Star Trek's (Piccard-led) Enterprise, that chanced upon untraceable alien transmissions of music. The music was intoxicatingly magnetic, and would subliminally seduce listeners - despite its sometimes abstract or repulsive sounds. In the story, the crew would listen in their off hours, harmlessly enjoying (or just plain curious about) the unusual sound waves from space. But, was it all harmless? We won't reveal the exciting, climatic, professional, prime-time TV conclusion here. As you might guess... our goal was to attach ourselves to the soundtrack work in any future pitch meetings. So, while waiting for that never to happen, we've taken various stabs at such "space transmissions." This 30 minute plus improv is one of 'em. Recorded live.

Listen

Live In The Theatre Of DisBelief (32:42)

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#21 Science

We actually went into a real studio for this one, and came up with The 'Sup?tet. It's a "defined instrumentation offshoot" that uses pure, psychedelic guitar overload, stripped, simulated jazz/funk arrangements, cheap editing and various found sound tapes. 'Sup? 17 minutes of our Faux Jazz/Buckethead/Tape phase of September 14-16. It only lasted the one weekend. Just as well, since we couldn't have afforded the horn players. It features our usual shenanigans along with another one of our epic, four-parters, "Science." Our apologies to Mr. Rose. Science features a bevy of raw improv, some slight of hand and was "made with the space age in mind" (from our press release). And, no... we're not a part of any underground web advertising information game clue promotion. So stop calling the house. Volume matters. Recorded, for the most part, live.

Listen

Under 30 Second Tribute To Kurt Winter (0:29)
Lab Animal (3:15)
Science (12:30)
I Alphonia's Reply, II Live At The Loft, III Weather Authority, IV The Torture King
Hell For Red Skelton (0:45)

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#20 We're Late For Class - A Collection

A greatest hits? Are you guys kidding? Well... sorta. It's just that with 19 posts of original, improvised music (and a Faust cover), who in their right mind is going to weed through it all to hear what we're up to? Certainly not you! So, for those curious about stoned improvisors who give away their music, here are some of our more tolerable jams. If you don't like this well-sequenced set of drug-induced space hymns, then you'll know to ignore the rest or our shit and get back to downloading the new Fall Out Boy. We didn't have room for our 40 minute psych/dirge excursion, "'Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun' As Played By Vanilla Fudge Imitating Iron Butterfly When Fudge Were Forced To Open For Butterfly At The Fillmore West After In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida Went Top Ten." So just click on the title for that. Haight-era bong hits not included. We hope you like it, share it, spread the word and come back for more. Listen to any and all tracks in full or download the entire 75 min collection below (including the nifty, I've-seen-the-future-of-online-music-cover-art, animated .gif).

Burden Bearers (Of Aristocracy) (4:54) #15
(Hand Me That) Revolutionary Coat (5:50) #2
(Another) Summer Of Heigel (8:22) #9
Theme To John Carpenter's King Heroin (9:07) #12
Blunt Force Trauma (Unit) (9:42) #14
Fukhausen (Excerpt) (2:22) #3
Tommy Reese's DTs (Relapse) (11:42) #4
A Buoy, 40 Yards Out (8:20) #19
Final Moments Of Barry Cowsill (Redux 4) (10:08) #14
It's A Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl (4:56) #13

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#19 What Might This Signify?

We gotta get a new art department. "A Buoy, 40 Yards Out" is a druggy, meandering, endless sort of an offshore wave that would go perfectly with a J and a Miller High Life. While "Tortured Greyhounds" is a Faustian ruckus kick started by audio tapes of, what appeared to be, barking thespian lesbians whose skills seemed appropriate to incorporate. We'll post those original tapes, maybe... later. Recorded live.

Listen

A Buoy, 40 Yards Out (8:20)
Tortured Greyhounds (12:35)

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#18 4D Man Sessions (Jazz In Absentia)

This really wasn't a session. During movie night, we watched the 1959 sci-fi classic 4D Man (with Robert Lansing) and we collectively noticed the stiff but spiffy jazz riffs that punctuated the background music. So, Lonnie copied the DVD and - while the rest of us kept bluntin' to the flick - whipped up some samples from the soundtrack's cheap, hi-hat, jazz drum'n'bass. We did the rest. The animated Bob G., whom you'll soon find took vocal charge of the sessions, was a stoned jazz wordsmith friend of Shelly's. The operative word is stoned... and goes directly to the axiom about being careful who you hand a microphone to. His ramblings are included here as a warning to others who might harbor a similar notion. The music itself is our half-baked take on a "get high and go raw junkie jazz" session. Hence the sub-title, Jazz In Absentia. The plan was to fill this out with more characters and sections, but... we never got around to it. We wasted the time instead on this sleek (but ripped-off) promo photo. Time is relative, they say. Since we doubt we'll come back to this, we're unloading... uh, we mean... uploading it here for your enjoyment. Recorded live.

Listen

Take 3 Said... (2:13)
Kluzuski (6:37)
The Squeaky Chair 2 (2:51)

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PRESS THANKS...

Thanks to the late, great Fred Dellar at MOJO Magazine for mentioning Art Jackson's Atrocity AND We're Late For Class in two separate "Ask Fred" columns, where he called the Atrocity's Gout a "fine, percussion-fuelled, invigorating free-for-all," and also saying, "we at Ask Fred are glad WLFC exist." Thanks Fred!

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Many thanks to Jeff Fitzgerald over at Psychedelic Waves for including Art Jackson's Atrocity in his list of Top 30 Albums of 2019, calling Tribute To Sun Ra... "Some great, exploratory, tripped out Sun Ra inspired free jazz," and "a terrific album." Needless to say, we're shocked. Since we never sent the guy a dime. Thanks Jeff.

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Thanks to Roz Milner for the two interview/articles posted at Bearded Gentlemen Music, "Solving the Mystery of Art Jackson Atrocity’s Gout," and the most recent, "With His Back To The Crowd: Art Jackson’s Atrocity’s Live In Europe - Lost Live Jazz Recording."

We collectively appreciate the creative interest and the well-groomed ink.

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Thanks to It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine for the article, "Maybe It’s Time To Take Art Jackson’s Atrocity Seriously." Maybe.

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AN ACTUAL RECORD REVIEW...

ART JACKSON'S ATROCITY

Gout

(Unreleased 1974 Promo On Columbia Records)

Reviewed by Joe Kenney @

Julian Cope Presents Head Heritage

If, like me, your favorite era of Miles Davis is his electric era, specifically the 1973-1975 years in which Pete Cosey was his guitarist, then you’ve probably wondered why that super-fantastic lineup of his never cut an album together, after Miles decided to retire in late 1975. I mean, they were the greatest group in history, with Pete Cosey’s phenomenal, psychedelic guitar (the man was beyond Hendrix, that’s all there is to it), Reggie Lucas’ wah-wah’d grounding rhythm guitar, Michael Henderson’s dub-like basslines…hell, I can’t go through all of them, but if you know them, you love them. But if you’ve ever wondered what an album by this super group sans Miles would sound like, well my friends, I give you Gout, by Art Jackson’s Atrocity.

Only thing is, you’ll have to hunt the blogs for it. Recorded in 1974, the album was cut as a promo by Columbia, who then went on to drop both the group and the album, which is unreleased to this day. “The horror…the horror…” No one’s sure why (info is slim to none on this group and album), but most rumors have to do with Art Jackson’s drug abuse. In any case, the album has perfect sound quality – the only source is the promo LP, of course, and it sounds phenomenal.

The Miles connection surfaces again: Art Jackson was a twenty year-old guitarist whom Miles Davis himself recommended to Columbia records. Apparently Davis even funded the recording of the album. The Atrocity was put together around Jackson, an 11-member collective of hard-rockin’, psychedelia-lovin’, jazz-playin’ motherfuckers (two saxophonists, four drummers, two keyboardists, a guy on reeds, a guy on bass, a guy on “effects”), none of whom I’ve ever heard of (much like Art Jackson himself).

The five long tracks on Gout center around Jackson’s guitar, and the kid is Pete Cosey reborn; the stuff on here sounds almost identical to what Cosey was performing on the Agharta and Pangaea albums. That same sort of fucked-up, psychedelic distortion which goes from raging and chaotic one moment to spaced-out drones the next, the strange tunings, the works. Only thing is, unlike Cosey, Jackson’s not above playing a power chord or three, so the album packs a definite metal-rock punch. I mean, it’s fantastic, the whole thing.

The superbly-named “Shaft In Afghanistan” opens the album. Jackson’s guitar is on super-fucked mode, sounding like a cyclic tone. The rhythm section lays down a menacing, throbbing track, which Jackson and the sax & reeds proceed to riff over. Jackson soon leaves the actual “song” to the others, instead riffing and roaring with all manner of guitar sounds across the track. He’s everywhere, from wah-wah to thick distortion to cosmic fuzz. Things cool down three minutes in, but it’s only a fake-out; the track comes right back in. Jackson funks it up on wah-wah, with studio-tricked handclaps providing additional percussion. There's all sorts of electronic gimmickry on the album; this isn’t just some quickly recorded demo. This eventually calms down again into a sort of funky ambience – but it’s just another fake-out! The track rips right back up, the drums so superbly recorded (and no doubt closely-miked) that they seem to pound within the caverns of your skull.

“Arabian Fabian” (another great title!) comes in with total menace, until a faux-lite jazz tune pops up. Funky, proto-drum’n’bass drum kit and sax. But this soon becomes something altogether un-lite. Echoed murk creeps across the track, eerie wails, treated reeds, and dubbed-out sax bleats. Those close-up drums kick in and we’re in an altogether heavier, funkier groove. The first half of the track belongs to the Atrocity, with Jackson throwing in brief fills and licks on his mutated guitar. Things collapse into psychedelic ambience at the five-minute mark; free jazz with plinking guitar and tapped cymbal. But ominous guitar fuzz hovers in the distance, a starving wolf preparing to attack. John Carpenter keyboards arise and give the track even more of a horror-movie feel. But it’s a ruse; the piano takes over, playing a melancholy melody as the other instruments recede into the murk. This doesn’t last. Those ultra-loud drums kick the shit out of you again, jumping out of nowhere, and suddenly we’re into the strangest of strange: ambient free jazz with heavy metal drums. The track eventually wears itself out, descending back into the murk from whence it came.

“Available Bush” sounds like some early ‘90s industrial mash, with in-your-face drums and ripping and roaring Ministry-esque guitar. The track throbs on an off-kilter funk grove, Jackson heading the proceedings with the twists and turns of his guitar. The sax plays a faux-Middle Eastern counter-melody to his blasts and blares. The bassist throws in a few snake-like fills of his own, but his instrument sounds anemic compared to Jackson’s acidic distortion. This one humps along for seven minutes which quickly pass by, never establishing anything beyond that off-kilter groove, but never suffering for it.

“Tomato Reign” is the epic of the album, 16+ minutes of cosmic echo and free jazz. It crawls out of the murk in the opening moments, ethereal and disjointed fills from the assembled players. Things continue in this dubbed-out vein for a few minutes; nothing on the level of the Taj Mahal Travelers, but close…along the lines of the last half of Miles’ 1975 shows, when Cosey et al would let it all hang out in improvisatory bouts of experimental noise and abstraction. Pounding, tribal drums which pop out and then disappear. Bleated sax fills which float across the sound spectrum. Even animalistic grunts, growls, and screams from the group. This culminates in ultra-fucked guitar from Jackson, sounding again like some cyclic tone from hell, and then someone (a group member? a sample from some obscure film?) states in the calmest tones, “Fuck her. Let her rot.” A few more minutes of banging, echoed drums and bleating, mournful fills from the sax, and that’s it: the freest noise-skronk ever comes to a close.

“Let’s go!,” someone yells, and we’re straight into the pounding, pissed-off proto-metal of the title track, “Gout.” This is the rock version of the preceding track, another rhythmless excursion into all things free, only packing a wallop in the guitar distortion and overall menace. It pounds and snarls for six minutes, never finding a groove, preferring to live in its own sonic hellhole of chaotic din. Finally it builds to a climax of sorts, with a few final bashes on the drum kit, and the record’s over.

To be fair, you can see why Columbia refused to release this. Gout is the type of album you’d only find on some free jazz label or, if it was recorded today, some ultra-hip indie label. But Columbia in the mid-1970s? Releasing this groundless swell of jazz-metal ambience? Hard to believe. But those master tapes are out there, somewhere, as is the full story of what exactly happened to Art Jackson and his Atrocity. In the meantime, we can only listen to their one recorded album, and wonder.