#80 The Faux Tapes

If we'd been alive in the 70s, and if we'd been influenced by the random, flighty chaos of 1973's The Faust Tapes, we probably would also have been inspired to released this, #80 The Faux Tapes, an odd assortment of ideas, miscues, free-form jams and unrelatable in-jokes, fronted by an LP-styled cover (designed to recall the aforementioned classic of the era), all mixed with the ambience of aged vinyl and household mold. Of course, it sounds nothing like its paraphrased namesake. But, it's not suppose to, either. Just as Satanic Majesties wasn't supposed to sound like Sgt. Pepper's. You see, in the 21st Century, it's all about name-dropping and Google hits. Because of that, lowly web bands like ours are forced to resort to click-baiting to garner the eyes and attention of a world cluttered with noise... noise that's often nosier than our noise. After all, why would you, the discriminating listener, waste his-or-her limited Kardashian, Jay-Z or Ed Sheeran-devoted hours to sample what we're serving up? You wouldn't! Which is why we're counting on your inherent abnormalities (and Google's re-directional aid) to offer you something both alien and absurd.

Because The Faux Tapes includes numerous short segments intercut together, we've included two side-long files alongside the individual tracks, so that the curious can listen online without streaming interruption. It doesn't help the music one bit, but at least your highly cultivated buzz won't get challenged every few minutes. We've also added a patented "Pick Your Ending"© option. Do you want a simple needle lift, or a trendy looped outgroove? (For you post-digital types, the run-out groove is a few seconds that loops continuously until the needle is manually lifted). Or... just keep 'em both, what do we care?

Listen:


FOR YOUR UNINTERRUPTED ONLINE LISTENING PLEASURE
The Faux Tapes - SIDE ONE (21:13)
The Faux Tapes - SIDE TWO (20:37)

SIDE ONE
Chaos & Chowder (0:54)
Untitled (Space Dirge In Two Parts) (7:25)
Day After Day After Day (2:52)
Tokepoker (1:16)
Commercial Music For An Istanbul Ad Agency (0:60)
King For A Day (Molte Grazie Bella) (3:01)
The Unmarked Grave Next To Arch Stanton (4:46)

SIDE TWO
Some Avant Garde For The Old Folks (1:33)
A Patsy's Death Dream (1:10)
The Orchestrated Art (Vocal Version) (6:05)
Fukhausen (Extended Remix) (7:15)
Arcticulation (4:17)
Pick Your Ending: Outgroove (0:17)
Pick Your Ending: Needle Lift (0:06)


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#79 The Splendiferous Octet

Blatant, brazen, brilliant, catchpenny, chichi, chintzy, coarse, crude, flashy, flaunting, florid, frou-frou, garish, gay, glaring, gross, gussied up, jazzy, kitschy, loud, meretricious, obtrusive, ostentatious, pizzazz, pretentious, putting on the ritz, raffish, ritzy, screaming, showy, snazzy, splashy… splendiferous.

Listen:


The Splendiferous Octet (Sacred) (13:14)
The Crows Know (6:04)

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#78 Experiments... In Terror!

"The Horror" is part of a larger work that was originally commissioned for use in the Ken Burns documentary, The Vietnam War. For the project, we recorded over 7 hours for the soundtrack, but the deal would eventually fall through - partly because 6 hours of what we submitted consisted of nothing but crickets. So that's on us. We also failed to read the contract's fine print, which we thought guaranteed us $4,180, only to learn that we were supposed to pay $4,180. But what really soured the negotiations was when Ken Burns arose from his chair during the listening preview, opened the window of the 8th floor PBS conference room and - without saying a word - tossed the still playing CD player into the parking lot below. Our only regret was not being able to record the noisy smash (and resulting alarm) when the device landed on an expensive Aston Martin One-77...which was sitting in Ken Burns' parking space. It might have fit in nicely with this release's second offering, "The Coriolis Effect," so named as to attract the attention of DJs in the land down under - otherwise impervious to payola and our collective charms - to broaden our appeal beyond our listening stronghold... grandma's house at Thanksgiving. Another 23 minutes you won't get back (and can't sue for).

Listen:


The Horror (13:52)
The Coriolis Effect (9:02)

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#77 Space Box

A spiffy, galaxy-sized, vacuum-packed box o' space compiled for your smoking jacketed pleasure. 13 overtly cosmic space epics and spontaneously stoned dirges - nearly 4 hours worth of mind-bending, patience-testing, brain-frying sound excursions - compiled for those who lack the stamina to weed through our overgrown catalog looking for the spacier, pseudo-psychedelic, often disembodied improvisations we tend to wallow in when the tapes are running. We hope you enjoy this bulbous soundtrack to our wasted lives. It even comes with a fake gatefold CD cover for your amusement. Space Box, like all our releases, is available for free @320 below. But, those whose ears require higher quality WAV, AIFF or FLAC files can download it at Bandcamp, or from the streaming player below, all for a mere $1. Righteous, huh? Well... if nothing else, you’ll still have some Bitcoin left over for Cheetos® and Snapple®. It is the final frontier, after all.

Listen


I
Live In The Theatre Of DisBelief (32:43) #22
Galerienmusik Pt. 1 (9:04) #3
Space (35:32) #69

II
Landings On Moons Besides Our Own (5:20) #44
Outside The Opium Den (Oscar Coverage) (5:33) #59
Buttery Hog Mosh (8:48) #31
Message From Fornax (Pre-JMST Instrumental) (14:02) #30
Live In The Theatre Of DisBelief - Episode 2 (26:19) #37
Flying (4:34) #44
VGER Love Theme / VGER (10:38) #67

III
Galerienmusik Pt. 2 (14:22) #3
The Tim Leary Seance Experience (Instrumental) (22:49) #68
'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 (40:36) #6

TOTAL TIME: 3 hours, 51 minutes. All selections previously released.


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#76 soundsbox

Sound experiments. It's arguable whether this stuff is even listenable. If that's the case, you might actually be able to call it "art." Don't bet on it, though. We've released all of this stuff before as individual posts in our ongoing soundseries. But we're now boxing it up with a spiffy new cover for easy consumption. 15 tracks, approximately 78 minutes, almost like one of those CDs your favorite rock star might release when he's slumming in the "experimental music" field. We all know that just means he finally made enough money to buy some new gear, and he's paying for it by selling his fans the noise it makes when he turns it all on at once. We already had the gear. All tracks previously released.

Listen


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Click To View, Listen or Download Each Release Individually
soundsone
soundstwo
soundsthree
soundsfour
soundsfive

#75 The Singles Box

The original idea was to release a new single every few weeks and then sell our less-than-impressed fanbase some Limited Edition hard copies at inflated collector's prices. We envisioned including some droll postcards, like The Pixies might do, to justify the exorbitant price tag. In this new age of the music business, bands now know that they have to give away their albums to web-leggers, just to be able to sell the $100 Deluxe Expanded Import Box Set (with some more pieces of paper and, perhaps, a free mini-CD of a bad rehearsal gathering dust on DAT). So... here's our digital version of one such redundant box set, just like the big stars' record companies might concoct. The Singles Box includes our first digital 45 (#45 The Stalker), along with our consecutive series of digital 45s (#52-#56). Click titles for details. All tracks previously released.

Listen


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Click to View, Listen or Download Each Release Individually
#45 The Stalker 45
#52 Clash On Broadway 45
#53 I Wanna Be Your Man 45
#54 Metal Machine Music 45
#55 The Last Countdown 45
#56 The Trouser Variations 45

#74 "I Wanna Be Your Man (Mono Master)" Official Digital Online RE-Release!

I WANNA BE YOUR MAN 45
"Most people aren’t aware that Lennon & McCartney's 'I Wanna Be Your Man' is actually a re-write of an old blues tune of the same name. 'Blind somebody' recorded it in the early 1950s, and collectors know of a few records out there that have survived. A sure clue that it's not a Lennon/McCartney original is illustrated by how seriously John & Paul treated the song. For a larf, they pawned it off on The Rolling Stones (theories abound that it was a blatant attempt to derail their career). But, Lennon & McCartney ended up laughing even louder at the bank when the Stones accidentally had their first hit single with it. Then... they gave the song to Ringo to sing - a sure sign of something, to be sure. But because copyright laws were so loose in the 1960s, 'I Wanna Be Your Man' has long been considered just another old, co-opted blues tune that got ‘borrowed’ and goosed-up by a band of upper-poppin' punks with a Merseyside beat. Hey, they were kids, what did they know? So, we stripped the song back to its original Mississippi blues roots. This is why we don't do vocals. Consider yourself warned."

We first debuted an edited variation of this recording via the multi-artist, web-only project, The Beatles Complete On Ukulele... before posting it ourselves as #53 I Wanna Be Your Man 45. But now, in a misguided stab at crossover acceptance, we're re-releasing "I Wanna Be Your Man (Mono Master)" to respectable digital outlets like iTunes, Amazon, Shazam (and other big time retailers). That's right, we've gone legit - even springing for the necessary licensing so that Lennon & McCartney get their splits for "writing" this 1964 hit for The Rolling Stones, though (as you can read above) their authorship has been irresponsibly challenged and questioned (ahem). The Record Store Day people didn't appreciate any of it, either (and, given our rep, probably didn't believe the MOJO quote was legit. It is, thanks Fred). Those of you who require FLAC, AIFF, WAV or other lossless formats can grab it from the Bandcamp player below. Those deciding to get it from a big time digital distributor (hint hint), and thus helping to push this track into Billboard and Soundscan's Top 10... we humbly thank you.

Listen

I Wanna Be Your Man (Mono Master) (3:04)

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#73 The Behest Of We're Late For Class - Big Time Digital Mega-Store Release!

In yet another attempt to inflict what we do on the masses, we are (for the first time) officially releasing a compilation of previously-released material to big league, professional, corporate digital retailers - like iTunes, Shazam, Amazon, CD Baby and others. Who'll collectively have no warning about what is secretly infesting their sites and playlists. Precisely what you'll find here is 80 minutes of grooved-out jams, short bursts of nonsense, a mind-numbing 22:44 opus, and even a taste of our jazz-blistered alter-ego, Art Jackson's Atrocity. All thoughtfully sequenced and ever-mindful of your blissed-out smoking jacketed listening pleasure.... just like the sub-header says. None of which should be any surprise to our devoted and loyal followers... if that's indeed who you are. Your kind already know where to grab 320 files of this material, while those with sound fetishes requiring FLAC, AIFF, WAV and other high-quality formats can visit Bandcamp (or any of our streaming players). Full releases are a mere $1. Click the linked #'s behind each title below to visit our original posts. Virtually all of this was recorded live, without rehearsals, without much thought and without much sobriety. We advise adopting the same mindset.

Listen:

1000 Islands (Two) (1:24) #4
Burden Bearers (Of Aristocracy) (4:54) #15
Trippin' In A Plymouth Belvedere (w/ College Sweater Breach & The Misplaced Prelude) (10:25) #32
Final Moments Of Barry Cowsill (Redux 4) (10:08) #14
Fukhausen (Excerpt) (2:22) #3
The Air In Another Country (Soundtrack To An East Berlin Spaghetti ...Western) (11:00) #51
(Another) Summer Of Heigel (8:22) #9
Jazz Interlude (0:33) #46
Bob Can Hear Us (22:44) #29
Available Bush (from GOUT, by Art Jackson's Atrocity) (7:16) #71

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#72 ART JACKSON'S ATROCITY Live In Europe (1975)

The long-lost second LP from Art Jackson's Atrocity. Recorded live in Germany, just months after Gout (the band's 1974 debut album for Columbia Records) was shelved, deemed unsellable by the label's corporate hierarchy. Turning down a January, 1975 invitation to support Miles Davis in Tokyo, The Atrocity decided instead to blitzkrieg Germany, finding a receptive audience for their incendiary style of improvisational jazz/noise/rock. First issued as an independent LP in St. Louis, circa 1975, Live In Europe is the only known live document of Art Jackson's Atrocity - though… all of the Atrocity's work was recorded live as it happened. Live In Europe, however, captures the frenetic energy that can only be found in a live setting, as artist and audience face off for an anticipatory clash of unknown expectations and improvisational possibilities. The enthusiastic response from the jazz-hungry Germans in both Düsseldorf and Berlin provides an exhilarating backdrop to The Atrocity's only overseas performances. Now, for the first time in over 40 years, a new generation of listeners has the opportunity to hear the musical madness of a close-knit collective of anti-social misfits with no corporate goals. What might have been... had label indifference, drug abuse and multiple incarcerations not derailed one of the 1970's more unpredictable forebears of a futuristic musical dystopia few were willing to believe could possibly exist.

Listen

#31994 (4:22)
The Continuum (4:55)
Death Train To Nuremberg (4:06)
Birds On Fire (7:59)
Birds On Fire, Part 2 (11:14)

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#71 ART JACKSON'S ATROCITY Gout (1974)

"This is the tale of one of the great lost experimental jazz/rock albums. According to legend, Gout was bankrolled by Miles Davis in 1974, delivered to Columbia Records and pressed for promotion… then summarily abandoned by the label. Reasons, besides its lack of commercial potential, are unclear. Though theories range from guitarist Art Jackson’s already developed heroin addiction to Columbia’s desire to distance themselves from a band that may have included a few radical Black Panthers. Reportedly, when Miles (with his own drug problems) began withdrawing into seclusion, so did the desire to release Gout. Specializing in free form, live-in-the-studio, jazz/rock experimentation, The Atrocity was a chaotic, 8 to 11 piece collective fronted by the 20-year-old Jackson – whose guitar explorations were prone to both violent outbursts and spacey sonic excursions. No charts, no songs, no rhyme or reason. Driven by heavy-propulsion drumming, the musical interplay between the players suggests a drug-fueled free for all." - Willard, Never Get Out Of The Boat

"I've heard Gout and, whatever the provenance, it's a fine, percussion-fuelled, invigorating free-for-all." - Fred Dellar, MOJO Magazine

Listen

Shaft In Afghanistan (7:36)
Arabian Fabian (9:02)
Available Bush (7:15)
Chimps Do Five (Bonus Track ) (8:54) - Gout (Remastered & Expanded) Only
Tomato Reign (16:11)
Gout (6:21)

FREE 320 (The Original Scratchy 5-Track Online Version)
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Limited Edition CD Release...

Art Jackson's Atrocity *SOLD OUT*
Gout (Remastered & Expanded) Promo CD 

#70 "8 Gigs In Kingston - The Complete We're Late For Class" (USB Flash Drive)

SOLD OUT!

Our catalog is officially out of control. This "complete" USB Flash Drive release first began as 4 Gigs In Kingston, but has exponentially expanded into a behemoth we're now forced to call, 8 Gigs In Kingston. As before, it contains the entire We're Late For Class catalog - almost two days worth of so-called "music," designed to soundtrack your blissed-out mindset (or... up the ante on your ongoing audio wars with the neighbors) - all on a single 16 GIG 3.0 SE9 G2 Kingston Data Traveler USB Drive. Every track available on this blog (and even one track that isn't). This collection (all @320) comes with a Rich Text File containing all the artwork and text found in this blog's nooks and crannies - including... all of our numbered releases, our ongoing soundseries, even alternate personas (aka Art Jackson's Atrocity, The Manipulationators & The Avant Guard) and... "Pregnant Tight Rope Walker In Santa Ana," a track that only appeared on an offsite compilation album. Such a deal at $16.99, plus $3.92 Media Mail shipping (USA SHIPPING ONLY! ). The good news is that (for a while anyway) you'll get an extra 8 gigs of free space, which is probably more valuable than the chaotic 8 gigs we're hawking here. After we foot the bill for the drive, Paypal fees and sundry expenses, we'll probably wind up with a six-pack of imported brew for ourselves - which we're confident you'd happily treat us to if we ever came over to your house to play. And, in a way we are... in the form of a discreet Media Mail package, shipped within 24 hours (except weekends & holidays). Can you beat that? If we sell enough of these, we might even buy a van and tour. Then we just might show up at your place to hang out long enough to empty the fridge. That's cool, right?

8 Gigs In Kingston
The Complete We're Late For Class 
USB 16GB 3.0 FLASH DRIVE Only $16.99 + $3.92 Shipping (USA SHIP ONLY!)