We're Late For Class

#38 The Dirge Experience

We had planned to do a whole album of an alter-ego group, The Dirge Experience... 60s holdouts with white-boy afros, black session sidemen and a credo, In Dirge We Trust. "Dirge Experience (In Easter Hay)," is the band's signature song, which they insist must never be covered by any other artist after they die (especially their own kids). Will it be a fiery plane wreck or a slow, endless succession of OD's and suicides, where one mediocre bassist is left with all the trademarks? As for "Low Budget Cable Sketch Comedy Show Instrumental Theme Song," imagine a spunky, 10 second loop underneath a blurry montage of the latest troupe of hip, irreverent cable comics. "Universal Cardigan (Live At Pompeii)" is us pompously grandstanding against the backdrop of ancient Roman ruins, minus the gong. It's so cosmic, perhaps you should save it for an eclipse or something. Recorded live.

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Low Budget Cable Sketch Comedy Show Instrumental Theme Song (2:48)
Dirge Experience (In Easter Hay) (5:31)
Universal Cardigan (Live At Pompeii) (9:08)

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#37 Live In The Theatre Of DisBelief II

Live In The Theatre Of DisBelief II is our second episode of mind-numbingly random, alien transmissions encountered by the intergalactic scientific deep-space probe, Trace. Episode 2 comes with a plot development unmentioned when Episode 1 (#22 Live In The Theatre Of DisBelief) was released earlier... EAC's (Embedded Addiction Codes). Meaning, casual listeners aboard the ship were unaware they were slowly becoming mentally dependent on the transmission's subliminally embedded helix re-organizer. The plot thickens, as they say. Settle in and toke up for another non-musical, 26 minute improvisational dose of seemingly benign space racket. We're concealing the show's exciting, climatic, professional, prime-time TV conclusion until negotiations get us a graphic novel anime to score. Recorded live, during sessions that included #35 Jazz From Outer Space.

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Live In The Theatre Of DisBelief - Episode 2 (26:19)

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#36 Round Table Smoking Circle Sample Jam

Best guess... this is about 6 or 7 minutes too long, though some estimates went as high as 15. We each found a word, phrase or effect to sample, then used them to jam with live improv keys, in search of that "perfect" alignment of utilitarian consciousness, or... until the blunts nubbed out, which happened about 20 minutes in. Lucky for you the bongos were removed. We might suggest a smoking game tied to the word "relaxation," for maximum entertainment value. Finished in little more than the time it took to record & mix it. We're posting it now, the next day, for the heck of it. Normally, we'd just use the "best" 7 or 8 minutes... you get 21. Good luck. It's best not to think very much about it all. Recorded hours ago.

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Round Table Smoking Circle Sample Jam (20:56)

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#35 Jazz From Outer Space

Two raw, virtually unedited jams. We normally cut these things down to make them a little snappier, but not this time. These sleepy extendos will put you down like a diseased rhino. We've done tests. Another 23 plus minutes of here today, gone tomorrow improvisation. For those that leave comments wanting the raw, unedited stuff, this is why we don't do that. A heightened state of awareness is recommended to obtain optimum entertainment euphoria. The pre-law guys insist we state that this music doesn't actually emanate from outer space. And, yes that's Paul MCC sitting in, thanks. Recorded live.

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The Premiere & Final Performance Of Jazz From Outer Space (10:31)
Particle Alert (12:55)

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#34 JUICE

Our 34th release. We're nothing, if not tenacious. For legal purposes, we're forced to mention that any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. But, we're not going to try and put anything past you guys. One might say that JUICE is ripped from today's headlines but, it's actually ripped from 1994's headlines. History just has a funny way of going around/coming around. Kind of like karma. One could call it a rock opera, but then... no one would listen to it. Not even you. So just say it's another 20 minutes of improvisation & manipulation with a killer theme. Recorded live.

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Pattern Of Abuse (7:31)
Manhunt (4:21)
The Fugitive (7:45)

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We play this way too much around here. Affectionately known as "Platypus Manhunt," it's one of four videos posted over at YouTube by our web buddy, slaxor. Thanks a million.

#33 Raw Tapes & Servitude

More raw tapes from various sessions. The creepy voices near the end of "Liquidity (The Spastic Conductor)" are from The Conet Project, which tracks the curious (and numerous) disembodied, short wave transmissions of random number sequences. No one really knows what it's all about. Earlier in the year, we hammered out the riff for "ZZ Top Called... (And Said To Knock It Off)" for about a half hour, eventually extracting this six minute chunk for public consumption. And, in the same spirit of extraction, we decided to isolate the slightly slowed vocal narrative from our epic opus, "Final Moments Of Barry Cowsill (Redux 4)" (#14). Truth is, we got stoned to it last week and thought it was funny. Which should tell you something about about how easily amused we are. Another 23 minutes of pointless improvisation for stoners, lay abouts and potato stick consuming couch potatoes. You know who you are. #14 The Final Moments Of Barry Cowsill is here.

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ZZ Top Called... (And Said To Knock It Off) (6:20)
Liquidity (The Spastic Conductor) (11:25)
The Barry Cowsill Monologue (5:16)

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#32 Trippin' In A Plymouth Belvedere

#32 in a series. Various tracks from various sessions we've been endlessly mixing and remixing with no actual goal in mind. The title track is a true story about a hitchhiking incident involving a Plymouth Belvedere driven by two, off-work day strippers. Embellishments will likely make future versions of the story more potent. It's an outtake from the #21 Science sessions. "The Lumbering Rex (Remix)" is from later and "Sanctified" is a ranting guitar workout from our unfinished War Of The Worlds Sessions. This never fit any themes, and it probably won't fit here, either. Another 20 minutes of made-up stuff we'll never do again.

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Trippin' In A Plymouth Belvedere (10:25) (w/ College Sweater Breach & The Misplaced Prelude)
The Lumbering Rex (Remix) (5:05)
Sanctified (4:40)

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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.