If you know Glands of External Secretion, you now also know that they have a new release out in Coherent States to which you may be interested in listening. If you are unfamiliar with them, there are quite a few things to be said, beginning when Seymour Glass, inspired by J.D. Salinger's short story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish", starts publishing the legendary Bananafish Zine in 1987, which for eighteen issues and up until 2004, constitutes a huge and ambitious attempt of presenting underground culture in its every form. Completely unknown experimental branchings, with a preference for the lo-fi, collage aesthetics, Glass's paranoid and absurd manner of writing and the whole structuring of the noise scene, with San Francisco as a starting point and every "tweaked" corner of the globe as a destination, found their home in Bananafish and their main representative in Seymour Glass. Not long after, the collective-record label Butte County Free Music Society (BUFMS) takes form, also the brainchild of Glass, with a hard-to-find catalogue and some utterly unknown and extraordinary names like Bren't Lewiis Ensemble, The Conduits, The Protons, Felix Mace, Jett Hotcomb And The Talented Hairdos and, of course, Glands of External Secretion, meaning the musical collaboration of Seymour Glass with indie rock singer Barbara Manning (of World of Pooh).
In the 37 minutes of "Convicted Felon Adjusted For Inflation" cassette, Glands of External Secretion testify another weird monument of experimental and far-out studio improvisation, using as their instrument a surreal collage of songs, sounds, Barbara's vocals, voice samples, loops, out-of-context rhythms, field recordings, electronics, cut-up manipulated noises, a completely non-canon cover of "Why Do I Feel?" by The Shaggs, and anything else which is not considered music, even if it is, and does not need actual instruments to be played, even if they are used. The result is a twisted orgy of sound bordering on audaciτy which the term "extremely psychedelic" fails to completely encapsulate. "Convicted Felon Adjusted For Inflation" would be the ideal content of a Volcanic Tongue (RIP) newsletter, and is already a masterpiece in our ears, destined to excite all the psychotic "freaks and weirdos" and freeform lovers out there.
credits
released January 11, 2017
Barbara Manning: voice, guitar, organ, banjo, bongo drums
S. Glass: objects, loops, guitar, piano, banjo, bongo drums
Recorded by Dan Vargas at Safe At Home
Mixed and edited at No Spray 205
Words by Barbara Manning, except “Why Do I Feel?” words by Dorothy Wiggin
Thank you: Dan Vargas, Lucian Tielens, Jowe Head, Virus Limousine And Transport
supported by 6 fans who also own “Convicted Felon Adjusted For Inflation”
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