Calling Doctor Death

   This collection has the distinction of presenting material from both the "American" and "Global" Snufmeg eras, particularly for the Cheese Mites. The details of which will follow. Contained here is evidence of an increasingly varied approach to styles and arrangements, hinted at previously. From loop and feedback mayhem to tone poems and traditional songs, the Cheese Mites flex here curiously with their most standard, if you will, modes as well as ventures into new territories.
   Opening with "Rarities and Friends," we are confronted with a stilted, jagged mock of song structure, but complete with the Cheese Mites sensibilities of chaos and humor, with their signature inattention to detail and charming shoddiness. Clarinet accents add a funky flavor to the herby-jerky rhythms.
   "Calling Doctor Death" steps the 'Mites back from their traditional instrumentation. A purely vocal piece, it mixes loops with live vocals, all saturated with echos and reverb. Less a song than an audio experience in mania, it has odd musical moments.
   "Quiet Loud Song," dated from approximately 1983, is a nearly serious attempt at tone poem form. Unironically, the song starts gently and quietly, building in slightly over two minutes to a screeching, pounding climax!
   What follows is the 1990 recording of "(She's My All Night) Penis Garage." Recorded from possibly the same sessions as "Rarities and Friends" and "Calling Doctor Death," although some sources place those two pieces at an earlier time, possibly 1988. Though from such a late date, it is not to be misunderstood that they waited so long to attempt another traditionally structured song. Surely, other similar attempts were made, in fact many were, but this particular song is of special note. As it was created after 1986, when the 'Mites split up, merely geographically. Throughout the "Global Snufmeg Era," Johnny and Williwill continued to collaborate, but only via virtual and long-distance modes. These three recordings were of that limited body of in-place collaboration, as will be illustrated in later posts. Additionally, this particular song will require it's own analysis and commentary in another post.
   From 1981, "I Can't Stand My Artistic Mind" stands out as possibly the companion long-form tone poem to "Music" from "Experiment in Stupidity." These two compositions, separated by a few years, establish the attributes (loops, feedback, echos) which defined much of the Cheese Mites early body of work,