Neil Hamburger - Interview Neil Hamburger

(Drag City, 1996)

I’ve collected a few of these “open-ended interviews” through the years – offhand, I know that I own such recordings by luminaries ranging from the Beatles to Burt Reynolds – and I’ve always wondered how pathetic and ridiculous a DJ needs to be in order to actually conduct one of these phony conversations. Seems like real rock-bottom absurdity. Is there ANY way to maintain your pride after going on the air, reading from a label-provided script, and then pretending to react to pre-recorded answers? Sad and bizarre. So I guess that makes this vinyl micro-genre a natural fit for Neil Hamburger, who sent out promo copies of this 7”-plus-script package to radio stations in support of his America’s Funnyman album. There are a few witty responses/jokes from Neil, but most of the laughs exist in his tweaking of the format, as the record’s dead air bears little relation to the length of time you, the DJ, actually need in order to read the provided questions; as Neil gives insanely vague responses that make the interview semi-applicable to every possible city; and, best of all, as his spoken bits offer dirty anatomical innuendo when heard minus the script. Overall, a worthwhile obscurity that fits snugly into the larger Hamburger/Amarillo trash-mythos.

Flying Saucer Attack - Land Beyond The Sun

(Drag City, 1994)

“Land Beyond the Sun” is sort of an FSA love song (lyrically), with the usual reverb, distortion, and rudimentary drumming blasting things off into drugged-out brainspace, though with relatively discernable vocals. The B-side, “Everywhere Was Everything,” takes it even further, going for impenetrably dense, searing waves of guitar that shudder and slither all over each other as the song builds to a lo-fi psych climax. The latter is one of Pearce’s best, I reckon. Listening to these songs, it occurs to me that the genius of these records is that reasonably straightforward tracks are being dressed up – and I don’t consider this gimmickry – with fantastic layers of fuzz that allow you to either focus on or totally ignore the underlying melodic content. And different days bring different preferences, as far as these ears are concerned.

Ah! Special alert for completists! This 7” was released in a variety of sleeves by labels in both England and the USA, and its tracks later got issued in that hot digital format via the import “Outdoor Miner” CD single.