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Excel (Eye Eye)

by vacuum tree head

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Glass-mastered CD in a jewel case, with a booklet of illustrations and extensive notes

    Includes unlimited streaming of Excel (Eye Eye) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days

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1.
Lemming Line 01:58
2.
I went down to the water And the water washed over her body Sighed Waves Mary And I never thought I'd need a woman like that But I did Mary Mary Mary Mary Mary
3.
One 01:44
4.
30 Oz. 01:55
5.
Mong C 01:50
Seen a lot of them Going down again Lala lalala lala lalala Neither now nor then Held my goal my friend Hmhm hmhmhm hmmm hmhmhm
6.
7.
Twilight 02:37
Woman, you're doing wrong You're a wicked, evil woman And you're doing wrong, baby I washed my mind at the sea of souls I lost some time at burning sands You no longer hear my voice 'Cause I gave it to the king of the crickets I took down your picture and put it with your letter Now there's a golden cloud that calls my name, Baby
8.
42 02:22
Bass and lightly Most from amplifiers There - particularly drums and fuckin' Made the washcloth a dirty realize And threw him about and wove under The bound top of the minutemen Out there, like the line The marsh made them whole I would wait for that smile Butter from the butter They don't
9.
10.
11.
Dirty Jars 01:24
12.
Tharsa fool of musky wool And thousand yarnsa under pool That convenience is a very fine, Keen with all the catarrh speed But if therever comes a day That gearsan songs are fit to burst I'll pack some all like little shoat In to a lion's brion birch
13.
14.
One night there was Freddy He had the fingers of a bear He and Jason wow can never die Must face Michael and Drakala Momy man momy ladies Frankenstein They had to get the triforce In Drakalay cave Monster Squad were the only people who could doito (They went to Drakalay Cave) Michael Drakala mommy man battled and they won They got the triforce Drakalay Cave, Drakalay Cave, don't go down to the Drakalay Cave
15.
30 Jars 6 HB 06:38
16.
"Not sure suture" Presumed yonder daze "Water bag mouser!" Present time formation -Speaker turns- "Grammer's bet, food again!" Go-ball's a pot honor; Food again, ladle rotten Own pore ladle, healthy like a gull Sad old man cracksa back Of a scrapyard forger sack
17.
In music across the recesses, limitless 42 judges do not weep Rose in dingle growing Grey-brown bird, pricked by the wheat Sing to the howling storm your reedy song Misery's iron yoke This dark night of counting Sing on, grey-brown bird Sing on
18.
I got a little lost When you were talking about recent stuff But I still got it And when I got home The soup was still hot Now I'm hanging and now I'm moving On my feet again, upside down Fell forward and climbed around Got over and.. I don't know
19.
Gartsa 01:51
20.
21.
22.
Jars Again 02:37

about

Here it is, the 1993 debut CD from Vacuum Tree Head, originally distributed through Megaphone!

"The genuinely demented Vacuum Tree Head typifies the Mr. Bungle credo that adventurous music doesn't have to consign itself to the 'jazz' genre. Their new Excel (Eye Eye) CD from megaphone definitely doesn't swing, but it does venture to the outermost regions of aural intensity. As with Bungle, psychopathic circus-freak sonic oddities lurk around every corner, and the carousel winds down for the final merry-go-round of the night on "One Finger Through Rye, Parts I & II" deftly extending the rich Mr. B saga. On "Drakalay Cave", Tree Head take the horror/gore movie theme to the maximum reality with the demonic chants and Wicked Witch-of-the-West cackling. It's more of a silly, amusing exercise in a pseudo-deathcore vein than an actual fright-night drive-in thriller scene, yet it illustrates the off-kilter motifs which contort and reform themselves throughout.
With a surprisingly cohesive, chameleonic lineup on each of the 22 tracks, VTH plug into an extraordinary number of instrumental combos, including variously warped strings - sitar, didgeridoo, detuned guitars, piano guts - an assortment of reeds, vibraphone, bells, brake drum, castanets, and other 'found' percussion tools. Possessed 'sound' loop sampler / synth washes swim at the core of most of the tunes. Dedicated to Sun Ra. Should you check it out? Should I have to ask?"
-The Daily Californian

"Ron Anderson, guitariste des Molecules est aussi ingénieur du son et producteur. Une excellente occasion avec cette oeuvre vivifiante de mesurer la pertinence de ses choix et, surtout, son bon goût. Opéra (rock) d'après l'apocalypse, fête ("for Sun Ra" dit la pochette) du bruit organisé, qui rappelle cependant plus certaines pièces de John Cage que le "free". Si l'on retrouve deux membres des Molecules (Anderson soi-même et Tom Scandura, batteur héroïque). Une dizaine de musiciens se regroupent en de multiples groupes et sous-groupes pour un réunion qui évite le piège de la compilation ou de la démonstration de talent. Ce qui importe de signaler ici, c'est la confirmation de l'émergence d'une nouvelle scene à l'ouest. Conclusions provisoires: A: il n'y a pas que New York et ses vitrines. B: Une création n'est pas forcement un truc ennuyeux.
...De la poésie pure, qui peut rappeler celle d'un certain capitaine."
-Revue et Corrigée

"YO! Mail order dude, your CD made it into our stupid catalog. Well aren't we red faced, we were only 30 miles from these guys, we'd speak to them, we used to see them at garage sales, they must have sent us a tape or something like that. Well aren't we assholes for not putting this out. Very interesting, fresh music from the next generation. LOVE, DA STAFF"
-Ralph Records / T.E.C. Tones Winter 1993 catalog

"Ralph Records recently wrote that they could kick themselves for not signing Vacuum Tree Head a few years ago after receiving an early demo tape. Understandable feelings, considering how original and intense this debut is. The instrumentation is a point of interest - piano guts, didgeridoo, sitar, space junk, microphone feedback, vibraphone, as well as the more standard drum-bass-guitar-horn. Pleasant vocals by Sylvia Gordon & emotionally shaking vocals by Jason Berry appear throughout and enhance the music. Ron Anderson's production sound is clear & raw at the same time with hidden sound revealing itself every listen. Elements of rock, jazz, noise, ambient, improv & chamber can be identified, but this explains less than half the picture. The rest might be explainable, but I prefer to leave it intact from words."
-Megaphone press release

"Vacuum Tree Head contributed the potent finale on the IMA compilation tape, and now have a CD of their own entitled Excel (Eye Eye), produced by Ron Anderson. The packaging is stunning, but that's nothing compared to the musical punch of this madly rotating crew. They don't have a regular lineup, a definable sound, or anything close to a style; that's three points in their favor. 22 cuts veer crazily from dark improvcore flavors (thanks to Ron and Molecules drummer Tom Scandura), to quirky tunes and nice/nightmarish songs with a grainy early-Residents tang, interspersed with soundscape textures which sure sound like successful studio improv. Lots of collage, sound layering, and studio experimentation here, delivered with a nod to the punky Euro-prog of Faust and Can. Ultimately, VTH emerges as a group of unrestrained sound artists, rather than style-mongers. Isn't that what this music is all about?"
-Freeway Magazine

"Well, I'm stumped. I hate it when I get stuff like this. Can I call this performance/industrial jazz music? Strange stuff. Some spooky. Some irritating. All very innovative and definitely original. However, probably not something I'd like to see live. Although, Sylvia Gordon MAKES the jazz song, track 18, with her beautiful voice."
-City Revolt

credits

released April 19, 1993

Ron Anderson - guitar, tapes, various instruments / Jason Berry - saxophones, clarinets, samplers, tapes, vocals, sounds, various instruments / Michael de la Cuesta - guitars, bass, trumpet, vibraphone, various instruments / Erica Fallin - flute / Sylvia Gordon - voice / Ian Noble - vibraphone, various percussion instruments / Thomas Scandura - drums and percussion / Jon Sanchez - bass guitar, keyboards / Chandra Shukla - sitar, didgeridoo, tabla / Rale Sidebottom - metals and percussion / Matthew Waldron - guitars, bass, chapman stick, various instruments

With Alan Jebian, Jim Carrico, Richard Faulhaber, and more!

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about

vacuum tree head San Francisco, California

Vacuum Tree Head was formed by Jason Berry and Michael de la Cuesta in a garage in south San José, California, in 1989. Inspired equally by punk rock, free jazz, electronic music and modern composition, we recorded in whatever style we wanted, on whatever instrument we could get our hands on, in whichever manner we pleased. VTH ceased operations in December of 2019. ... more

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