Doo-Dooettes – Look To This [LP] (1982, The Solid Eye, Los Angeles Free Music Society)

 

'Look To This', the elusive 1982 release by Doo-Dooettes, stands as a curious artifact from the fringes of the early ’80s American underground. Issued as a private pressing on the Solid Eye label, the record emerged from the orbit of the Los Angeles Free Music Society, a loose and prolific network of artists operating in Los Angeles who embraced lo-fi production, irreverence, and total creative freedom. Like many LAFMS-related releases, the album feels less like a polished statement and more like a snapshot of a moment -raw, strange, and defiantly unconcerned with convention.

 
The record drifts between fragments of pop structure and bursts of chaotic experimentation. Hints of melody and rhythm surface briefly, only to be interrupted or reshaped by tape manipulation, found sounds, and a playful sense of absurdity that keeps everything slightly off balance. This constant push and pull -between something almost familiar and something entirely unhinged- gives the album its peculiar charm. At times it brushes against the spirit of no wave; elsewhere it leans into collage and musique concrète, never settling long enough to be easily defined. 

What makes the album particularly compelling is how it reflects the ethos of its scene. The Doo-Dooettes weren’t aiming for mass appeal or even coherence in a traditional sense; instead, they were part of a broader conversation about what music could be when stripped of industry expectations. The rough edges, abrupt transitions, and flashes of randomness feel deliberate, forming a quiet rejection of polish in favor of immediacy and experimentation. 

Over the years, the record has remained a collector’s curiosity, circulating mainly among those drawn to underground and outsider music. Beyond its rarity, 'Look To This' offers a vivid glimpse into a creative community that thrived on limitation and unpredictability, capturing a moment when making music meant pushing boundaries simply because they were there.

 

 

Label: The Solid Eye – A1, Los Angeles Free Music Society – L.A.F.M.S.#14 

Format: Vinyl, LP 

Country: US 

Released: 1982 

Style: Art Rock, Modern Classical, Experimental, Free Improvisation, Free Jazz, Jazz-Rock 

 

Tracklist: 

A1 Zombie 

A2 I Got Right To Sing The Blu 

A3 The Flying Eyes 

A4 Baby 

A5 Bird And Bee Orchestra 

B1 Schlagerzeit (Tolstoy's Anemic) 

B2 Dr. Phibes Visits Chicago 

B3 Scrapyard 

B4 Red Wrec. Said 

B5 That Latin 

B6 Yurei 

 

Notes: 

Elaborations: 

A1 - this is the music from an Italian film entitled "Zombie", this version is the 'Ettes testimonial to horror. 

A2 - recorded live on KCRW, Los Angeles; 3AM, April 4, 1982, on Brent Wilcox's "FRGK" program.

A3 - this is an excerpt from a longer piece, presented here is the first ten minutes; no overdubs or edits. 

A4 - no comment. 

A5 - environment created live entirely by mouth and limb. 

B1 - this piece grew out of an annoying song Dennis used to play incessantly whenever he encountered a piano, by recording it in the studio and making it a big number we hoped we would cure him of the habit. It worked. 

B2 - after working on "Zombie" in the studio and dealing with all that structure, we had to flex our improving muscles. "Dr. Phibes" was the result. If you listen carefully you can hear him speak as he arrives in town. 

B3 - a condensation of 20 minute piece down to about three. A random sampling with flavor enhancers by Tom. 

B4 - excerpt of a piece used by Doug Henry in his film of the same name. Title courtesy Doug. 

B5 - our version of "Nights in the Gardens of Spain"? 

B6 - is not listed on the cover or labels, only on the insert. this tracks starts at the end of the side and run into the lock groove. Recorded at The Sound Chamber in November 1981 except track A2 which was recorded at KCRW Radio, Los Angeles. Mastered at Kendun. Pressing by KM. Thanks to Kevin Laffey, Erling and Dagmar Nilsen, Dave Nold, Jan Paulhus, Paul Sanoian, Tom Potts, Mark Takeuchi and LAFMS. 

 

Includes single-sided 11.5" square insert with credits. 

 

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大友良英 [Otomo Yoshihide] – Early Works I '81~'85 [Cass] (1994, Maboroshi No Sekai)

Otomo Yoshihide is a Japanese composer and multi-instrumentalist. He mainly plays guitar, turntables, and electronics. He first came to international prominence in the 1990s as the leader of the experimental rock group Ground Zero, and has since worked in a variety of contexts, ranging from free improvisation to noise, jazz, avant-garde and contemporary classical. He is also a pioneering figure in the EAI-scene, and is featured on important records on labels like Erstwhile Records. He has composed music for many films, television dramas, and commercials. In 2017, Otomo became the 2nd Guest Artistic Director of The Sapporo International Art Festival 2017. 

With the exception of 2 tracks, this is an entirely solo album that sees Otomo experimenting with various odd instrumentation. The behemoth opening track, "Religion-4", is the first. Otomo plays the turntables, tapes, and radio on this piece. It's pretty much straight up noise music, you can hear wailing, beeping and harsh turntable scratches for the first few minutes and not many other discernable sounds, as it crashes and screeches its way throughout its early duration. Despite of the sound sources being use here you can only barely at moments make out what the hell you're hearing. A voice, a drum beat, junk noises, occasionally peek through the chaos only to disappear as fast as they entered. About 11 and a half minutes in is the most recognizable sample with loops of a monologue, which also marks things getting a bit less harsh, but still very noisy and nonsensical. Things come down in the last couple minutes of the track with the sampling becoming much more noticeable and less overwhelming, more sparse, before one final WOOOSH finishes off the track. This takes up the entire A-Side of the cassette and is an absolute trip to listen to, apocalyptic and destructive, but oddly meditative, also proving Otomo's mastership at the art of Turntable Music. A great jam that will surely please those who enjoyed Otomo's more noisy works. 

Kicking off the B-Side, the "Guitar Solo Improvisation" is exactly what the name suggests. Otomo had a different technique compared to the custom made noise guitars of his work with Ground Zero or the noisy, pedal soaked arpeggios that mark his New Jazz records. Indeed, Otomo doesn't play with seemingly any effects whatsoever. Just a tight jam that emphasizes dissonance, atonality and seemingly random plucking above the noise and feedback of his latter day output. So demented in it's chaos that it would make even Derek Bailey blush. Definitely an extremely cool solo. 

"Religion-3" returns with all the instruments featured on "Religion-4" but with the addition of a violin and vocals. It opens with radio tuning sounds that sound kinda like a geiger counter before the violin just gets absolutely destroyed, being abused so badly, it sounds like high pitched static. Otomo also does these weird gurgling vocals over it and there's random samples going on in the background while he breaks the poor thing. Very amusing in it's absolute cacophony and impressive that Otomo can juggle all these instruments at once.

 
"Sax Of A Kind + PB Radio '84", despite the name, actually does not contain any kind of saxophone. Weird name but alright. The shortest track by far, there's three credited guitarists (including Otomo) as well as a bassist, a drummer, and Otomo on "tape recordings". Also according to the liner notes, the tape recordings are sampled from a radio. Otomo sure loves his radios even when he is not playing them. This is basically just a recording of a (sadly normal) jazz cover intertwined with japanese spoken word radio. It is a cool cover and the radio does add a bit of Otomo wackiness to the otherwise normal sounding jazz.

 
"Religion-1" has the same instrumental lineup as "Religion-4", with the addition of a synthesizer. It's very noisy and high pitched all the way, with the radio providing an ear piercing backing for the aforementioned sci-fi noises. A curious little noise piece. 

The most confusing track is probably "Religion-2", for which the only credited instruments are the tapes and "electric springs". There's basic tape loops in the background while the springs provide a metal scraping sound, kind of like the violin on "Religion-3" but with a lot more tremolo. If a violin and spring sound similar on an album then you know you have a master noise maker at hand. 

The final track, "NS-500", is a full on free jazz jam that clocks in at 8 minutes, the longest on the B-side. The standard lineup of bass, drums, guitar and tenor saxophone are on display here, with the addition of Otomo playing with toys. The bass is easily the loudest thing in the mix, and it is some very solid playing indeed. The drumming is very energetic, constant rolls and fills throughout the whole thing, the guitar is for the most part random plucking similar to the earlier "Guitar Solo", and the saxophone is very Zorn-esque indeed, piercing highs and squeals that sound like a dying pig. The toys can occasionally be heard but for the most part are drowned out by the drums and noise. The closest comparison is the Ground Zero debut, but a lot noisier and with fewer instrumentation, and without the vocals of our beloved Yamatsuka Eye. Still, a great free jazz jam. For those that looked for more stuff akin to live Ground Zero however, this will definitely please your ears.

 
A very grainy album that shows us what the 80s sounded like with Otomo, combining a few jazz jams with straight up noise, this is probably the best we are going to get of that for a while. Until his early tapes get rereleased, this will stand as the finest document of a young and crazy Otomo who has yet to fully develop his techniques, but there is an undeniable charm to this whole tape that makes it more than a novelty and rather a very enjoyable listen. If you heard 'We Insist?', and wanted to hear what Otomo was doing years before any of that was recorded, give this album a go. It will not disappoint. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]

 

 

Label: Maboroshi No Sekai – P…0010 

Format: Cassette 

Country: Japan 

Released: 1994 

Style: Avantgarde, Free Improvisation, Turntable Music, Free Jazz, Noise

 

Tracklist: 

A1 Religion-4 

B1 Guitar Solo Improvisation 

B2 Religion-3 

B3 Sax Of A Kind + PB Radio '84 

B4 Religion-1 

B5 Religion-2 

B6 NS-500 

 

Notes:

A1: Live at Otomo's Apt, Tokyo, 1985. 

B1: Live at Goodman, Tokyo, 1981. 

B2: Live at Otomo's Apt, Tokyo, 1985. 

B3: Live at Kogakuin-Univ, Tokyo + tape sampling from radio, 1984. 

B4: Live at Otomo's Apt, Tokyo, 1983. 

B5: Live at Doin' Studio, Tokyo, 1984. 

B6: Live at Meiji Univ, Tokyo, 1982. 

 

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The Universal Congress Of – Joe Baiza & The Universal Congress Of [LP] (1987, SST Records)

 

Led by Saccharine Trust axewielder Joe Baiza, Universal Congress Of began as the title for Baiza's 1987 solo record, later becoming the name of his fine, funky backing band. On his debut solo LP, he was still playing semi-improvised, avant-garde jazz-rock similar to what he had been exploring in Saccharine Trust, but Baiza/Universal Congress Of's later work was more structured and song-oriented. With Baiza on guitar and Steve Moss on sax, along with excellent bass/drum combinations like Bob Fitzer and Paul Lines or Steve Gaeta and A. P. Gonzalez, Universal Congress Of played rockish jazz/jazzish rock not unlike that of James Blood Ulmer and Ornette Coleman. Their earlier work on SST had a bit more of a punk edge, while the later albums on Enemy were more solidly jazz. [SOURCE: DISCOGS]

 

 

Label: SST Records – SST 109 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: US 

Released: 1987 

Style: Alternative Rock, Jazz-Rock, Noise Rock, Free Jazz, Psychedelic Rock

 

Tracklist: 

A Certain Way 19:03 

B1 Certain Way (Continued) 9:58 

B2 Chasing 4:30 

 

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V-Effect – Stop Those Songs [LP] (1983, Rift)

 

This forgotten album from 1983 started with "Master/Slave", a vibrant and delightful art-punk-funk-jazz exercise that had one foot in the work of the Art Bears, and the other in the work of Captain Beefheart, and without forgetting no-wavers such as Blurt. Ditto for the minimal spastic discordance of "Feet First", which also maintained a degree of elegance. Then, the rhythmic chaos of "New Condition" veered even more into no-wave, into the kind of perverse groove that Teenage Jesus & The Jerks or DNA manage to get across. In the meantime, tracks such as "Pollyanna" and "Mysteries Of The Organism" returned to a kind of disjointed but measured elegance, whereas the amateurish sabotage of "Placebo #1" and "Fast-Acting Placebo" revisited the spirit of early Half Japanese. Side two followed along these lines, with highlights such as "Boyce Life" and "They Can't Get It" approaching an ever more severe sound. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC] 

 

Label: Rift – RIFT 6 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: US 

Released: 1983 

Style: Free Jazz, No Wave, Avantgarde, Avant-Prog, Zolo

 

Tracklist:

A1 Master / Slave 

A2 Battle Of Algiers 

A3 Feet First 

A4 New Condition 

A5 Placebo #1 

A6 Alley Oops 

A7 Pollyanna 

A8 Mysteries Of The Organism 

A9 Fast-Acting Placebo 

B1 Lavaplatos 

B2 A Tree Grows In Managua 

B3 Boyce Life 

B4 Wheat 

B5 New Song (Old Story) 

B6 Must Go 

B7 They Can't Get It 

B8 Placebo #3 

 

Notes:

Tracks A1, A2, A6, A7, B3 & B4 recorded at OAO Studio, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Tracks A3, A8, B1, B2, B5 & B7 recorded at Sunrise Studio, Kirchberg, Switzerland. 

Tracks A4, A5, A8, B6 & B8 recorded live in New York, West Germany, Switzerland and Czechoslovakia. 

 

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Der Junge Hund ‎– Alte Und Idioten Werden Niecht Viel Gefragt [LP] (1982, Kremlin)

Der Junge Hund was an experimental rock and free jazz band formed in Eindhoven, Netherlands, by Rens Zanderz (guitar, synthesizer, vocals), Ger Van De Beuken (guitar, and also Z'EV collaborator in the 'The Invisible Man / The Old Sweat' album‎), Horst Rickels (saxophone, also in Maciunas Ensemble) and Rik Van Iersel (drums, later in Beukorkest). Der Junge Hund relased two albums, ‘Ridders’ (1981) and ‘Alte Und Idioten Werden Niecht Viel Gefragt’ (1982) and several tapes. They also recorded as Simulated Wood from 1983 to 1985, releasing the live tape ‘Simultaan’. 

 

Label: Kremlin ‎– KR 009 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: Netherlands 

Released: 1982 

Style: Art Rock, Avantgarde, Free Jazz, Experimental

 

Tracklist:

A1 Ghâlla Ghâlla 

A2 Das Heilpedagogische Instituut Macht Bekannt Das Die Drei Italiëner Nach Hause Wollen 

A3 Into The Ground 

A4 Alte 

A5 De Naakte Man 

B1 Konijnen Hebben Veel Minder Veren 

B2 Wit Vlees 

B3 Lotze Vuurrode Urine 

B4 Hich Humor 

B5 Vetrouwt Tut Sich Alles Weh (Verkocht) 

B6 Urlaub In Tanger 

 

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Wolfgang Dauner ‎– Output [LP] (1970, ECM)

An intriguing composer and ambitious pianist, German musician Wolfgang Dauner has combined jazz, rock, electronic music, and elements of opera and theater in creating broad-based, ranging works. While at times these compositions may seem too far-reaching, Dauner's best work shows the links between idioms and genres and offers provocative musical and cultural concepts. He studied trumpet, piano, and composition at the Musikhochschule in Stuttgart, then joined Joki Freund's sextet in the early '60s. Dauner appeared at several German festivals, then made his recording debut heading a trio in 1964. It was one of the first European free jazz recording sessions. Dauner led Radio Jazz Group Stuttgart and wrote compositions for them in 1969. He formed the jazz-rock band Et Cetera in 1970, then, with Hans Koller, co-led the Free Sound & Super Brass Big Band. He helped organize the United Jazz and Rock Ensemble in 1975, and began featuring theater, opera, and dance segments along with his performances in '70s and '80s concerts. Dauner's composed music for films, radio, and television broadcasts, and a children's opera. He's recorded for Mood, Columbia, MPS, and ECM, among others. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

Label: ECM Records ‎– ECM 1006, ECM Records ‎– ECM 1006 ST 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: Germany 

Released: 01 Dec 1970 

Genre: Electronic, Jazz 

Style: Experimental, Free Jazz 

Tracklist:

A1 Mudations 5:45 

A2 Output 7:42 

A3 Bruch 4:15 

B1 Nothing To Declare 10:40 

B2 Abraxas 4:24 

B3 Brazing The High Sky Full 4:25 

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