Experiment in Stupidity (Part 2)

   As with all focal points in history, those in artistic endeavors also invite debates. The inclusion of the "back four" songs in any Cheese Mites compilation referred to as "Experiment in Stupidity" arouses vehement and heated exchange. The songs "The Bad Fish," "We Two Three," "The Big Ocean," and "A Pond of Our Own," all from a session with Edmund as special guest on percussion and vocals from 1981, have been at the center of many discussions amongst Snufmeg aficionados. Nonetheless, they have been included in, at the very least, the online version of "Experiment in Stupidity" (see link at Sources).
   Their inclusion was carefully considered on the merits of the first song (number 6, on EiS). "The Bad Fish," though instrumental, is significant for several reasons. The quasi-polyrthmic interplay of the guitar work of Johnny B Dub and Williwill eschews the noise and abandon of the "true four" ("Love", "Sex", "War" and "Music") and investigates a cerebral approach to the Mites creativity at this early stage. Likewise, Edmund's drumming performs as accent rather than traditional time-keeping. However, the choice for naming the song "The Bad Fish" invites the listener to explore the Cheese Mites in non-musical revelation.
   From this time period, Johnny and Williwill had been assembling an ensemble for limited venture called The Bad Fish. More theater than music, this group was to provide the more accessible face of Snufmeg creativity. The perilously short-lived ensemble consisted of Johnny performing as "Electric Bass," Williwill as "Timmy Sardine," and collaborators Joe L, as "Marine Boy" and Edmund as "Fish Sticks." Tensions quickly surfaced. From the mundane complaints of Joe L at having to be called "Marine Boy" (though he did finish he duties), to Edmund's inability to accept variance of creative modes - a defining characteristic of Snufmeg in general and the Cheese Mites in particular - the enterprise was doomed. Beegs provided last minute rescue to Edmund's ousting as "Fish Sticks 2," though also to great complaint. The entire episode eluded capture for posterity, and nowhere in the song "The Bad Fish" is any of this alluded to, as it preceded the above incidents, it serves as a cosmic foretelling in musical form.

More Notes on "Piano Duet"

   The composition and recording of "Piano Duet," and the revision of it, both dated 1975, stand out as cornerstone pieces of music not only in the Snufmeg canon, but simply as music in general. It would not be altogether inaccurate to celebrate "Piano Duet" as a piece of nativistic organic music, that which has no precedence. However, as no such music exists, this selection falls as closely into that category as any. It must be noted that the arrangement and frame of presentation (being a recording) greatly infer influence from external sources - after all, pianos of themselves indicate at the very least a tradition of music in Europe going back generations, and the art of recording were by no means unheard of in musical environments prior to 1975. The point, however, is that to identify concrete musical influences for this piece is virtually impossible due to both the general level of apparent simplicity, and therefore universality of the composition, and also that to absolutely identify a specific influence at that time on the nascent creativity of WK is virtually an impossible task, for no such codification was structured at that time in his creative environment.
   Influences aside, "Piano Duet" consists of a simple motif, an accompanying melody and closes with a rhythmic pattern of tone clusters. These ingredients found longevity in Snufmeg, as they have throughout musical history.
   The era in which the "Piano Duet" and remixes was created and recorded was a groundswell for WK. As these recordings, his first, were collaborations with Ginhead (later to appear on "The Gavotte"), the greater body produced during the "pre-Cheese Mite" phase was also collaborative. A significant body was produced in solo fashion, but his submersion in the developing Tenafly scene was richly inspired by works produced with others such as John D, Todd R, and Beegs, all of whom shall appear later.

Sources:
https://youtu.be/9L4Vr09zzHk
https://youtu.be/4KaDt7hVrd8
https://snufmeg.bandcamp.com/album/the-history-of-wk-1975-to-1982-part-1-the-early-years