08/13/2024
Here's a new (vintage) one...
" HouseholdTakes El Paseo, 1988" (Household Ink Records).
enjoy safely. and thanks for your ears.
www.householdink.com/headlesshousehold
https://headlesshousehold.bandcamp.com/album/headless-household-takes-el-paseo-1988
https://open.spotify.com/album/27TQdAFd0maEsjlVSHj1as?si=wO49Qy8pTfOe8ECge3l3ng
The long story:
To kick off a periodic series of archival releases by the “hopelessly eclectic” band Headless Household, Household Ink Records humbly presents "Headless Household Takes El Paseo, 1988." This recently-rediscovered board tape from a 1988 live show represents the band in its raw, edgier youthful phase. Recorded five years after the band’s founding--coalescing mostly in the free-spirited and bohemian haven of Baudelaire’s and across the street at the uber-hip Joseppi’s--and one year after its debut album release (and the formation of Household Ink Records), the band took its unique and rough edged sound to the historic Santa Barbaran restaurant and community haunt El Paseo (born in 1922, part of an adobe compound dating back to 1826).
And what was that sound? Punk jazz? Fuso-progressive and free-minded ventures with allowances for humor and genre-bending? Some new blend of aggro ambient music? All of the above?
Rough edges, in terms of sounds and musical interplay, are intact here, befitting the Headless Household code of conduct. The recording also documents stage of a band which would continue through 2020 and a discography of nine studio albums. Here, the core quartet—keyboardist Dick Dunlap, drum-cussionist Tom Lackner, bassist Chris Symer and guitarist/song-slinger Joe Woodard—appear without additives or the large roster of guest musicians who would soon be joining them for annual Center Stage concerts and more produced albums over the next 20 years.
El Paseo, 1988 is all about the raw goods from the Headless salad days.
Song -wise, the setlist included tracks from the debut LP (“Off the Beat,” “Isle of Hugh,” “Gabriel”) and tracks destined for later albums (“Why Joey Can’t Read,” “I’ll Think About It,” “Denver Umlaut,” “Green Swipe Pattern,” “Sufferin’ USA,” “Rumba in Kuwait”) along with two songs finding their first release here. “Day One (Winning of the White Hats)” was actually the first song the quartet worked on in Dunlap's vintage carriage house-turned-music-and-art-studio on Anacapa Street, and “Relentless Nocturne” was a rarely-played item of the odd-metered moody ballad sort.
Voila, the past and echoes of lost youth comes back to haunt and hopefully delight. More to come...
Headless Household Takes El Paseo, 1988
Songage:
1. Why Joey Can’t Read
2. Off the Beat (Dunlap)
3. I’ll Think About It (Lackner/Woodard)
4. Denver Umlaut
5. Day One (Winning of the White Hats) (first HH song, first release)
6. Relentless Nocturne (first release)
7. Green Swipe Pattern
8. Sufferin’ USA
9. Rhythm Truck
10. Isle of Hugh
11. Rumba in Kuwait
12. Gabriel (Lackner/Woodard)
(Songs by Woodard except where noted)
The Household:
Dick Dunlap, keyboards, ‘80s style
Tom Lackner, drums, e-drums
Chris Symer, electric bass, fretted and fretless
Joe Woodard, electrical guitar, Roland guitar synthesizer
Recorded live at El Paseo, Santa Barbara, July 26, 1988
Sound engineer: Doug Coler (from ShadowFax)
Headless Links:
www.householdink.com/headlesshousehold
https://open.spotify.com/album/2Pek219GdrzCAB1BQMhYTN
www.facebook.com/HeadlessHousehold
www.youtube.com/MrHeadlessHousehold
Press quips & clips:
"Headless Household still seems to think that a mind is a terrible thing to waste. Clever without being obnoxious, laid-back without snoozing, their quick-dissolve electric studiohead jazz offers an alternative--not exactly a revolution, more a wink than a nod: We haven't given up, how about you?...Awareness won't get you to heaven, but in this case it gets you pretty far."
--Greg Burk, L.A. Weekly
“No, Headless Household is not an Industrial band. They sound like Miles Davis playing with the Kronos Quartet conducted by Sun Ra with occasional vocals by George Jones and backup singers from A Man and a Woman. Wonderful and wonderfully bizarre. If and when Twin Peaks gets another stab at prime-time TV, Headless Household would be the perfect band to play at the lodge.”
--Nick Dedina, Rhapsody.com
“…solid musicianship and an admirable willingness to toss in whatever strikes their fancy.”
--Aaron Steinberg, Jazz Times
“Soundwise, it is an eclectic and surprisingly alluring program that covers a variety of genres that, while certainly experimental, remains accessible. The group’s interest in the fusion of electric and acoustic touches is seen from the outset… Overall, a quirky--in a good way--outing from a group that is certainly charting its own course.” --Jay Collins, Cadence
--“Music this wildly diverse can never be properly marketed in this age of specialization, but that doesn’t make it any less extraordinary.” --Bill Milkowski, Tower Pulse magazine
--“Headless Household achieved regional cult status by the late 1990s, thanks to their quirky and eclectic kind of new music, their relentless live shows and a string of albums….” --All-Music Guide (www.allmusic.com)
“Overall the vibe was great and the music eclectic enough to satisfy any head, household member or not.” –Charles Donelan, Santa Barbara Independent
Downloadable photos @ www.householdink.com/picturehole.htm
For further info, photos, downloadable album, CDs, press clips, etcetera, please e-mail [email protected] www.householdink.com
Headless Household photos: http://www.householdink.com/hhphotos.htm
